


High Stakes

by darlinghoots



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, F/M, M/M, So yeah, and Arthur is older, and Eames is 17 so that is what makes it underage, so this is it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2017-12-06 15:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlinghoots/pseuds/darlinghoots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After burning down the gym at his old school, Eames moves to Sunnydale, California to start life anew. But things don't go as he had expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So a while back, I read a story titled "A regular kid" and I honestly cannot remember who wrote it. If anyone knows, please tell me so I can put it on here. But it was the only BTVS/Inception crossover that I have read or know about. And I loved Buffy so I decided , why not.
> 
> I switched it around by having Eames be the younger one.
> 
> So, this is sort of an experiment. I am posting the first chapter on here to see what type of reaction I get, and if you guys want more, I can write more. But I really liked this idea so I hope you guys do to. =)

 Eames let out a small sigh as he got out of his mum’s car. This was his first day at a new high school.

 

“Be good sweetie. And have a fantastic first day.” Eames gave her a small smile before closing the door. California. His mum had moved them all the way from London to bright and shiny California. He knew she wanted to go for something different, but still. California was so much different from London. It would take a while to get used to.

 

But in the end, he had no one to blame but himself.

 

It was his fault they had to move here to begin with. If he hadn’t burned down his old high school gym and gotten expelled, he could have still been there.

 

But what’s done is done. All he could do now is hope for the best and let this place be enough for them until he graduates and can go away from all of this.

 

As he glanced around at the school yard, he noticed that there were quite a bit of people at this school. His old school only had about 400 people in the school. He was sure there had to be more than 1000 people here. He was going to blend in quite nicely. No one would notice a new kid in this school.

 

In fact, it was quite possible that there are people who have gone here their whole lives and still didn’t know everyone.

 

Eames slowly made his way into the school, dodging every person who nearly ran into him. Seriously, did they have manners in California? One guy shoved him so hard, he almost fell down.

 

He slowly, but surely, found the office and walked in. The secretary was an older woman, who was on the phone at the moment. But she seemed nice. She looked like the grandma type, the type who treated each student like they were her own.

 

There were a couple other kids standing there, they looked to be about Eames’ age. Eames assumed they were there for a schedule change or something like that. Or maybe they were new like him.

 

But there was one girl, sitting at a desk away from the others, smiling at him. He gave her a brief smile next before the secretary called him up.

 

“Can I help you?” Eames looked and saw that her name was Mrs. White. Interesting.

 

“Um, yes. My name is William Eames. I am new here. I need my schedule and all of that.”

 

“Ah, Mr. Eames. Junior, am I correct?”

 

“Yes ma’am.” She gave him a big smile as she turned to her computer to pull up his schedule. She hummed to herself as she printed everything out.

 

Eames always knew how to make people love him. It was a talent he learned early so that he could always get his way. It worked on most people, except his mother. She could see through him like glass. But most people were instantly attracted to him, and it didn’t have to be in a sexual way. People were drawn to him. He always used to have friends, that was, before high school.

 

High school changed things.

 

“Here you go Mr. Eames.” Mrs. White handed him a couple pieces of paper. “This is your schedule and locker number. Each hallways is a different number. Yours is in the 400 wing.” Eames gave her a small nod. He didn’t really understand but he figured he would when he actually went out there. “On the second sheet you will find a list of the textbooks you will need. Go to the library and ask for Mr. Miles. He will help you out.”

 

“Thank you.” Eames gave the girl sitting off to the side one last nod before leaving the office. He looked down and saw that his locker was number 491. Shouldn’t be too difficult. It was probably at the end of the hallway and away from everyone else. That wouldn’t be too bad.

 

After finding his locker, which was much easier than he thought, he made his way to library.

 

The library was huge. It was open and round, with books stacked from floor to ceiling. It was amazing. Eames was never much of a reader, but he always found books interesting, especially old books. They were just so different, and held a certain charm to them. They also had character and personality.

 

But the library seemed to be quite vacant.

 

“Hello?” He heard movement, but saw no one. He was ready though. Of course, he was always ready. He was always prepared.

 

“Yes?” Eames looked over and saw an old man walk out of a small office. He was British, like himself, he could tell from the voice. But the man seemed to be a nice old man. He gave off the type of personality like Mrs. White did.

 

“Um, hi. My name is Eames. I am here to get some school books. I’m new.” The man, Eames assumed it was Mr. Miles, just looked at him.

 

“Right.

 

“Are you Mr. Miles?” Eames asked, might as well make sure this is the man he wanted before they continued on.

 

“Yes. Feel free to call me Miles. Everyone else does.”

 

“Alright. Oh.” Eames pulled out the second piece of paper and handed him his books list. “These are the books I need.” Miles didn’t even take the paper.

 

“I think this book, Mr. Eames, is all that you will need.” Miles pulled out and set down a huge old book on the counter. Eames looked down and immediately froze. The title of the book stood out very clearly.

 

_Vampires & Demons_

Eames took a step back. How did this man know?

 

“I don’t think that is the book for me.” Eames took a deep breath and glanced up at Miles. Miles just looked confused.

 

“I’m sorry. Are you sure?”

 

“Quite sure.” Miles just nodded.

 

“Alright. Well, your books will be this way.” Miles said as he walked off towards the back of the library, taking the paper from Eames as he walked by. Eames slowly followed him back. He wasn’t quite sure how to handle this Miles guy. He didn’t know if he was an enemy or not. No one was supposed to know that you were the slayer. Only your watcher, and the watchers council.

 

But no one else.

 

“You are from London, correct?” Miles asked, as he glanced down at the paper before taking off again. Eames was getting more and more confused by the second. How did he know he was from London? Sure his accent gave him away that he was foreign, but to know the city, that was a bit much.

 

“Yes. I am.”

 

“Maybe you knew of a friend of mine, Charles Greenly.”  Eames froze.

 

Charles.

 

Charles was his old watcher. He had died during the fire that burned down his old gym. Of course the fire wasn’t the cause of his death, but something much more terrifying.  Miles was just looking at him now.

 

“What do you want?”

 

“I am here to help you. I am your new watcher, Eames.”

 

“No.”

 

“No?”

 

“I am not the slayer anymore, alright.” Eames took a step back. “I gave all that up when I moved here.”

 

“What?” Miles took a step forward. “You can’t just give it up.”

 

“Yes I can. My so called ‘calling’ got Charles killed and it got me expelled. My mother has been through enough already. I am not making her move again.”

 

“You were careless back then. I can help you be more careful with your work. I can make you better.”

 

“You.” Eames wanted laugh. How could this old man possibly help him? At least Charles was a bit younger. “How could you possibly help me?”

 

“You have to trust me.”

 

“Sorry, Miles, you seem like an awesome watcher. But like I said before, I am retired.”

 

“You know very well that you can’t just retire from being the slayer.” Miles said, walking up so that he was now invading Eames’ personal space. “The only way a new slayer is born is when the other one dies. So if you don’t want the responsibility, you will have to die first.” Eames took a deep breath.

 

“Is it really that bad that I don’t do my job? I mean, there is not an apocalypse happening. The real world is perfectly capable of fixing it. The slayer can’t be everyone. People have survived before, they can survive now.”

 

“Eames. You do not understand. This is your responsibility. This is what you were born to do. You can’t just decide one day to give it up!”

 

“But I didn’t ask for this!” Eames shouted, taking a step back. “I didn’t want this! I want to be able to have a life. To get married, have kids, everything. I want to be able to wake up and not have to worry about the end of the world happening. I am 17 years old! I don’t need to be thinking about how to save the world!” Miles just looked at him.

 

“You are not the first one to have this burden Eames. Hundreds of women have held this position before you.”

 

“Oh, yeah. And let’s bring that up. Why am I the first man to do this? Isn’t this supposed to be some female empowerment thing or something? Why pick me?”

 

“I have no say in who is chosen. Maybe they decided to have a change. But everything happens for a reason.”

 

“Well, I want no part in this. Now can I just have my books and go?” Miles gives him a curt nod and Eames knows this is not the last of this conversation. Miles just hands him his books and Eames leaves as quickly as he can.

 

The rest of the day proves to be pretty uneventful.

 

Eames tries to make friends and talk to people. He knows his mum will yell at him if doesn’t at least try. And he knows that in order to survive here, he has to have friends. If he continues to be a loner, he won’t be able to survive high school.

 

But he didn’t have much luck in making any fast friends, that is, until last period. He was in History class, and Eames was not a fan of learning history. He hated history, didn’t really see the point of learning things that had already happened.

 

So he was just doodling in his notebook when a piece of paper hit him in the head. He looked over and saw a girl smiling at him. Eames recognized her as the girl from the office. She pointed down and Eames looked down to see a waded up piece of paper.

 

Eames slowly picked it up and opened it.

 

_Dude, your drawing is sick! Names Ariadne, by the way. =)_

Eames smiled down at the note before pulling out a pen and writing below her writing.

 

_Thanks, but it’s not that good. My name is Eames._

Eames slowly waded the paper back up and tossed it over to her when the teacher wasn’t looking. The girl, Ariadne, smiled at him when she opened it.

 

Just then the bell rang. Eames slowly put his things up and stood up.

 

“Hey.” He looked over and saw Ariadne. She was smiling up at him. She was a cute girl. She was short and looked really nice.

 

“Hey.”

 

“So, you are new here.” Eames laughed.

 

“What made you say that?” She laughed.

 

“Well, Eames, I am Ariadne, in case you weren’t quite sure how to say it.”

 

“Thank you for telling me. I am sure I could have figured it out eventually.” Ariadne let out a small laugh.

 

“So, how do you like it here so far?” She asked as they walked out of the classroom.

 

“It’s nice. Big. Much bigger than my old school.”

 

“Where did you go to school at before?”

 

“London.”

 

“Wow. Big change then.”

 

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

 

“Well Eames, my locker is down here.” She pointed to the opposite direction of where Eames’ was. The 300 hallway. “I guess I will see you tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah. Goodbye.”

 

“Goodbye.” She gave him one last look before walking down the hallways. Eames just watched her leave before going to his locker.

 

He had made a friend.

 

Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad here.

* * *

 

The next few days went by a lot smoother. Eames avoided the library like the plague. And if he saw Miles in the hallway, he took a detour to get to his classroom.

 

Eames was now a master at avoiding Miles. And now he knew most of the hallways around the school. So really, it was a win-win situation.

 

Eames had also grown closer to Ariadne. She really was a great person and she asked him a lot of questions about London and his life. She seemed like she cared about him. He had forgotten what it was like to have friends that cared about you.

 

Although, he did lie to her about why he got expelled from his old school, he said it was a prank. He didn’t think she would talk to him anymore if he told her he had got expelled for burning down his high school gym because it was full of vampires.

 

That might not go over too well. So he just left that subject alone. They didn’t need to know about that.

 

But by becoming friends with Ariadne, that brought along Dom and Mal. Ariadne knew Dom because they both loved architecture and planned to go to college for that. They were also childhood friends or something like that.  Mal, on the other hand, was dating Dom. She was also the most popular girl at Sunnydale High. Mal was something else. She was nice to him, but he also got the feeling that she could be a complete bitch if she wanted to.

 

But she was beautiful. And she was French, which Eames found very attractive. He had always wanted to learn French, but he never got around to it. So he just listened to her speak French and complain about class in French. It was quite nice.

 

Dom was a nice guy. He was smart but a little bit clueless sometimes. But he seemed to really care about everyone and all that. He cared a lot about his work and was willing to do anything to get it done, even if that meant screwing some people over. But Eames had no problem with him.

 

But it was nice, having friends. Back in London, Eames didn’t really have many friends. He did, but when Charles came to him, Eames stopped having a social life. He was focused on killing vampires and saving the world. He didn’t have time for friends.

 

Well, not anymore.

“So, Eames.” He looked over to see Mal smiling. “It’s Friday, which means we are all going to The Bronze tonight. You in?”

 

“The Bronze?” Eames asked, confused.

 

“It’s a club.” Ariadne added. “But, for everyone. High school kids are allowed in because they don’t card unless you go to the bar. But it is amazing. Dancing, live music, food, it is pretty much the perfect place for anyone to hang out. It is the place to be on a Friday night.”

 

“Well, count me in.” Eames replied, with a smile. This would be fun.

 

“Mr. Eames.” Eames tensed up. That was Miles. He turned and saw Miles standing behind him.

 

“Hello daddy.” Mal said, sounding quite chipper. What? Miles was Mal’s father?

 

“Hello darling. Mr. Eames. Could I please have a word with you? I think you have an overdue library book.” Eames nodded. He couldn’t make a scene right now, not in front of everyone.

 

“Sure.” Eames stood up and grabbed his bag. “See you in class guys.” They all waved him off as Eames followed Miles back to the library. “What do you want?”

 

“This.” Miles shoved the local paper in his hands. Eames let out a small sigh and looked down.

 

_Woman found killed in local alley. Strange marks found on her neck similar to the other four bodies found this past week._

Eames looked up at him.

 

“This could just be a coincidence.”

 

“Eames, Sunnydale is a very particular place. There is a reason you were sent here. Sunnydale happens to lie right on the Hellmouth.”

 

“The Hellmouth? What the hell is that?”

 

“The portal to hell. Everything weird happens here. And I am here to tell you there are vampires here. And who knows what else.”

 

“What do you want me to do about it?”

 

“How about you do your job?”

 

“Miles…”

 

“Look, I don’t know how Charles trained you. But you can have a social life and be the slayer. Just, around midnight, go out and patrol. Make sure everything is alright.”

 

“That’s all?”

 

“That’s all.”

 

“And I have to do this every night, like before.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I am a high school student, Miles.”

 

“I’m sure you can handle it.”

 

“I will do it tonight. But I am still not 100% into this.”

 

“Alright. Just give it a try.” Eames just nodded before grabbing his bag and heading to class.

 

So much for having a fun night out tonight.

* * *

 

Eames didn’t know how to dress for tonight. What does one actually wear to The Bronze? He had texted Ariadne and asked what to wear. She had merely just laughed at him and told him to wear whatever he wanted. She made it seem like it was no big deal.

 

So Eames went for comfort. He was going to be patrolling tonight, so he needed to make sure he was able to fight, just in case. So he went with jeans and a regular button up top. He wanted to look somewhat nice.

 

Before he left, he went through his dresser and found his stash of all his old stakes. He had hid them away when he came here and hoped that he would never have to see them again. Of course things never went his way.

 

He slipped one of the stakes in his inside pocket of his jacket and made his way to The Bronze.

 

The Bronze was a very interesting place. It was loud and full of people of all ages. But the music was decent and it seemed that it was indeed, the place to be. It was rather large, much larger than Eames had expected. The outside really didn’t do the place justice. It looked like some old factory from the outside, but on the inside, it was quite the place.

 

Ariadne found him quickly and dragged him over to the table that Dom and Mal were sitting at.

 

“So, Mr. Eames,” Mal said, leaning forward. “Is there some lonely girl you left behind?” Eames let out a small chuckle. “Or a boy?” Leave it to Mal to get right to the so called important questions of life.

 

It seemed like all this week all the questions had been about him. He barely knew anything about his so called friends. Only a few tidbits here and there.

 

“Sadly, no. I didn’t have much of a social life back then.” Eames didn’t do relationships. He had developed the everyday crush like every other male and female on the planet, but he was too shy to make anything happen.

 

And besides, there was always the off chance they could be killed by what he did for a living.

 

“Oh. Why not?” Dom asked, wrapping an arm around Mal.

 

“Just, busy.” Eames grabbed his drink and glanced around. There were a bunch of guys and girls dancing in front of the band that was playing. There were guys and girls lined up against the wall watching the people who were dancing. He could see people at the bar and a small hallway that led around the back of the bar. He thought he heard Ariadne mention that was where the couples went to hook up. He made a mental note to avoid that area in the near future.

 

He couldn’t see the balcony from here either but he had heard some interesting things about there too.

 

“Look, is that Robert Fischer?” Eames turned around to see who Ariadne was referring to. There was a boy about their age standing off the side, drink in hand, glancing around. He was very pretty, and dressed up like he was going to a business meeting.

 

“Who is he?” Eames asked.

 

“He is the son of the man who owns half the town. He is sort of a loner, doesn’t have any friends or anything. He just sort of exists.” Eames just nodded along.

 

He was about to go back to the conversation when he saw a woman approach Robert.

 

She was beautiful. Tall and curves galore. She was wearing a short shirt and a low cut shirt. She was there with a mission and Eames immediately sensed that something was bad.

 

As the slayer, you had a sense, it was like a sixth sense to know when vampires were near. And there was definitely one near. That woman was definitely one. And there was the small fact that she resembled the girl that had died last night.

 

So, when Robert left the club with her, Eames immediately excused himself and went outside. He didn’t see anything at first, but there was an alley close by. That was his best bet as to where they went.

 

Vampires were kind of predictable.

 

He walked over and saw a form in the shadow.

 

“Hey.” The woman pulled away, her mouth stained with blood. Shit. He was too late.

 

“She bit me.” Robert screamed out. Well, at least he was still alive. That was a plus.

 

“Why don’t you pick on someone who can actually take you?” Eames taunted. The woman turned around fully and glared at him.

 

“Who are you?” Eames just smirked.

 

“I’m the one who is going to kill you.” She let out a small screech. He turned his attention to Robert. “Run.” Robert just nodded and ran away, clutching at his neck. Eames hoped he went straight home and slept all this off and forgot about it.

 

“You shouldn’t interrupt things you don’t understand boy.” The woman sneered.

 

“Well, why don’t you teach me a lesson then?” She gave out a small growl before lunging at him. Eames easily dodged her the first time around, but she was able to get him the second, knocking him to the ground.

 

He hadn’t trained in a bit so his reflexes were a bit rusty. Luckily this vampire was still rather new. She wouldn’t be that hard to destroy. She smirked at him, her face changing into that of her monster form.

 

Vampires had a special talent. They could make their face look normal and hide their true form.

 

“Where are your snarky comebacks now?”

 

“Hey.” Eames looked over at the new voice. The vampire did too. He couldn’t really make out who it was, but there was definitely someone standing in the shadows. And from the voice, Eames knew it was a man.

 

Whoever it was, they gave Eames the opportunity to get up and take the upper hand. He pulled out his stake.

 

“Over here.” She turned around and without hesitation, he stabbed her. Right in the heart. He smiled when she turned to dust right before his eyes. He had forgotten how good it felt to kill a vampire, the small rush of adrenaline it sent throughout his veins.

 

“Impressive.” Eames straightened up. He had almost forgotten. Someone else was around. And they had just seen him kill a vampire. He had messed up bad.

 

“Um, what was?” Eames asked, feigning ignorance. That always helped.

 

“Your skills.” This voice was very confident and suave. Eames didn’t like it. “It’s not every day that some kid can take down a vampire.” Eames snarled at being referred to as a kid.

 

“Who are you?” The man just laughed before stepping out of the shadow. He was the most beautiful man Eames had ever seen. He was tall and lean, but Eames was sure that there was muscle on that gorgeous body of his. He was pale but it suited him. He was dressed in pants that should be illegal by how well they clung to his body. He was wearing a jacket so Eames couldn’t really see what was underneath but he was positive that it was something gorgeous and expensive.

 

He looked like someone who should not be out in this kind of neighborhood at this time of the night.

 

“Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is how you were able to kill a vampire.”

 

“It’s sort of my job.” Eames decided there was no use in trying to hide what had happened. The man obviously knew there were vampires in this town. And he seemed to not be bothered by it.

 

“Your job?” The man took another step forward. “Are you the slayer?”

 

“Guilty.” Eames replied with a shrug.

 

“But, the slayer is supposed to be a woman.” The man looked down. He seemed really confused by the fact that Eames was a man. “They are always women.”

 

“Sorry to disappoint you.” The man cocked his head as a small smile appeared on his face. Well, that was fast.

 

“I’m not disappointed. In fact, I am quite intrigued at this sudden change.” Eames raised an eyebrow.

 

“Intrigued? Look mister, I have told you who I am, now what about you?”

 

“I am merely a friend. I am here to help you. Something much bigger is coming to Sunnydale and you are going to need help.”

 

“But I know nothing about you. How do I know that I can trust you?” The man stepped forward so that he right in front of Eames. He was even more gorgeous up close. Eames tried not to stare.

 

“You can’t.” The man turned and made his way out of the alley.

 

“Can’t I at least get a name? If I am to ever be in need of your services?”

 

“Arthur.”

 

“I’m Eames.” Arthur turned and smiled.

 

“I guess I will be seeing a lot more of you then, Mr. Eames.” Eames bent down to pick up his stake and when he looked back, Arthur was gone.

 

Eames let out a small sigh. Of course. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Ariadne, letting her know that he wasn’t feeling well and just went home. He still had to patrol and he was really not wanting to.

 

He walked into the cemetery, glancing around for any fresh graves. He was just tired and wanted to sleep. And maybe dream about the gorgeous Arthur.

 

He didn’t want to deal with vampires. Not right now.

 

“Eames!” He jumped and turned around. There, running towards him was Mal.

 

“Mal?” She smiled and stopped in front of him. “What are you doing in a cemetery at this time of night?”

 

“I could say the same for you.” Well, she got him there.

 

“Um…”

 

“Look, let’s not beat around the bush anymore. I know that you are the slayer.”

 

“What?” Seriously. Why did everyone know who he was? Was it written on his forehead or something?

 

“My father is watcher. Did you honestly expect me to not know?”

 

“Well, I…um…”

 

“Look, my father said that you are still undecided about doing your job. I am here to tell you that you need to do your job. Bad things are about to happen. And we need the slayer.”

 

“Yeah, Arthur mentioned that bad things are about to happen.”

 

“Arthur?”

 

“He is just…nobody. Listen, I get what you mean. Things here are bad. I guess I can try and balance both killing vampires and school. But I will need to train. I am sort of rusty at the moment.”

 

“I can help you there. My father has all these training supplies in the library. We can start tomorrow.”

 

“But the others…”

 

“I can tell them. You are going to need all the help you can get.” Eames nodded.

 

“Thanks Mal.” She smiled before linking her arm in his.

 

“No problem. Now, shall we finish patrolling and head home?”

 

“Lead the way.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thank you all for reading the first chapter! I'm glad you all liked it.
> 
> So here is chapter 2. This will be a slow building story, right now, and I really have no idea how long this will be or where exactly it will go. It is a work in progress so we shall see where it takes us!

It had been a couple weeks since Eames had moved to Sunnydale and continued being the slayer. And everything was actually going quite well. The death toll had definitely gone down, so that was always good. And Eames was actually happy again. He hadn’t been happy in a very long time.

 

Mal had kept her word on telling the others about Eames’ ‘job’. She had been the one to break the news to Dom and Ariadne. Dom was confused, to say the least. He was freaked out and upset that Mal had lied to him about all of it. But he figured out that this was something you don’t tell everyone. But Eames could tell that Dom still didn’t know what to think about everything. It wasn’t every day that you found out that there are vampires that have been living in your hometown since forever.

 

Ariadne reacted completely opposite of Dom. She wanted to go on patrol with Eames and wanted to learn how to kill them. And she was all about the research. She wanted to know everything you could possibly know about vampires. So that was a plus. Eames hated research.

 

Eames was relieved that they had accepted this so easily. Eames had been in denial when he found out his fate for like a month. It wasn’t until he was attacked by one and killed it did he truly accept that it was what he was meant to do.

 

So the only trouble was with training. His old watcher used to train him in this old abandoned house out in the middle of nowhere. He could keep all the weapons there and no one would suspect anything.

 

But Miles was a little bit different.

 

Miles had a whole arsenal in the library. Eames was shocked, to say the least. If someone were to find out about this arsenal, things would not end well. In fact, well, Eames didn’t want to think about what would happen if someone were to find out about this.

 

Miles had weapons that Eames had never seen before.

 

There was also the small fact that Miles had books about magic that he wanted to bring up as well. But Eames didn’t want to bring magic into it. Magic always brought problems with it. But Ariadne was interested in it. Eames wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but it was her life.

 

But Miles was in fact, too old to train him so he got to train with Mal, which didn’t really help much. Eames was a tad bit afraid to actually hit her, regardless of what she said. He had improved strength, and if he wasn’t careful, he could really hurt her.

 

So, here they were, just practicing simple defense moves and Mal was getting mad at him.

 

“Come on Eames, I am not as delicate as you seem to think I am.” Eames didn’t respond to that. Miles was there with them observing.

 

“Eames, you need to practice if you want to get better. There are going to be demons that you fight that will try and use their looks and gender to get you to let your guard down.”

 

“But I am stronger than her. And she isn’t a demon, she is human. I don’t want to hurt her.”

 

“You need to learn to control your strength.” Miles sat down. “Continue. Mal, try and attack him from behind.” Eames let out deep breath and turned around. He closed his eyes and focused on Mal’s footsteps. He could do this. He could use a portion of his strength and not hurt her.

 

He heard her move and turned around quickly, blocking her attack and shoving her back into the wall. He pulled out his stake from his jacket and placed it right above her heart, pretending to stab her.

 

“And you would be dead.” Mal laughed as she pushed him off.

 

“Very good. Now why weren’t you doing that earlier?” Eames just shrugged as he placed the stake back in the bag he brought in from home.

 

“I think I’m done with training for today.” Eames reached down and grabbed his book bag and the bag of stakes. “I have to get home before mum begins to question why I am staying after school all the time.” Mal waved him off as he left the library.

 

Eames’ walk home wasn’t very eventful. Then again, it never was. He lived a few blocks away from the school in some boring neighborhood. Sometimes Ariadne would accompany him when she didn’t get to borrow her parent’s car. Turns out she lived rather close to Eames. Every so often she would come over and they would do their homework together.

 

Eames was really thankful that he met Ariadne and became fast friends with her. He didn’t know what he would be like if he hadn’t met her.

 

But ever since Eames stayed after school to train, his walks were usually alone.

 

Although some days he wished Arthur would show up. But it seemed that Arthur only showed up when he was patrolling. Arthur probably had a job or something that he did during the day. He didn’t have time for Eames. Arthur showed up to annoy Eames usually every other night.

 

But he normally just stood there (hence why he is becoming annoying), laughing and taunting Eames as he killed that night’s vampire. Eames was beginning to get a little frustrated that all Arthur did was just watch him and laugh and be mysterious.

 

In fact, he hadn’t even said anything else about this big bad problem that was coming. He just stood there, said a few critiques of Eames’ killing method, and then disappeared into the shadows.

 

Sometimes Eames wondered if Arthur was just a figment of his imagination.

 

But that didn’t stop Eames from dreaming about Arthur. That was a regular occurrence at nights. And most mornings always started the same way too. Those nights when he patrolled after he had woken up hard, made it quite awkward when Arthur showed up.

 

Eames figured if Arthur knew what he dreamed about, Arthur wouldn’t show up anymore. That Arthur would be disgusted with him and make fun of him. They were still somewhat strangers. It would just be bad if Arthur just stopped showing up. Arthur showing up was the highlight of patrolling, even if Arthur didn’t do anything but criticize him.

 

It was enough just to see Arthur in some wonderful tight fitting suit.

 

When Eames got home, his mum was already home making supper and it smelt delicious.

 

“Mum?” He walked into the kitchen right as she pulled whatever she had made out of the oven.

 

“Eames! I was beginning to wonder if the school had eaten you or something.” Eames just laughed at that. He wouldn’t be surprised if there was some monster that lived under the school that ate students.

 

His mum was quite the interesting one. She never questioned when he came home with bruises or if he had been caught sneaking out. She had found one of his stakes one night and actually believed him when he said it was part of an art project. He figured that someday he would tell her the truth. But today was not that day.

 

“No, just, in the library studying with Mal.”

 

“Mal?” His mom set the dish on the counter. “Is this Mal someone you are interested in? I have heard a lot about her, her and Ariadne.”

 

“No. It’s not like that. She is very beautiful, but she is dating someone else. So no. We are just friends, believe me.”

 

“Oh. So, is there anyone that you are interested in? Maybe some sweet boy at school?” Eames looked down and saw that they were having lasagna for dinner. Yum. But he really didn’t want to have this conversation with his mother. He never liked talking about crushes and all that. It was just too weird. He knew she didn’t judge him on who he liked, she had caught him making out with Kenny, the son of their old neighbor, and Christie, one of his friends’ sisters the following summer. His mom really didn’t care about gender.

 

But Eames really didn’t think she would be too keen on the idea of him crushing on this mysterious older man that he only saw when he was hunting vampires. She might draw the line there.

 

“Lasagna looks good mum.”

 

“Nice conversation block.”  She let out a small chuckle as she cut the lasagna.

 

“I learn from the best.”

 

“William.” She stopped cutting and reached out and grabbed his hand. “I am really happy that you made friends here. I was so worried about you for a bit. Back at home, you were always alone and you seemed very unhappy. I am glad you are happy here. That you are adjusting well.”

 

“Thanks mum.”

 

“Alright, well, let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

* * *

 

Eames walked along the skinny rock pathway in the cemetery, the light of the full moon lighting the way. There was one fresh grave today and his name was Michael Anderson or something like that. Miles hadn’t been too clear on whether or not it was an actual vampire attack. He just saw the news article and sent Eames on his way.

 

Eames was really beginning to suspect that there was some vampire virus in the air that they were all exposed to. And once you died, you would automatically come back as a vampire, no matter what.

 

That idea was almost stupid enough to be believed in. Maybe he would bring it up with Miles tomorrow.

 

Eames saw the fresh grave and quickly made his way over there. He was tired and really hoped that tonight went by fast. He had a test to study for and he wanted to get some sleep. Hopefully he wouldn’t have any embarrassing dreams about Arthur tonight. He really didn’t need those images stuck in his head while he was taking a test.

 

Eames walked over and sat down on the tombstone. He discovered that if he just waited here, he could stake them before they were even all the way out of the ground.

 

Eames had been there for a few minutes when he heard leaves rustling. He pulled his stake out as he stood up, glancing around to see where the sound was coming from. It was almost midnight so there really shouldn’t be anyone else in the cemetery that was alive.

 

But he didn’t see anything. Maybe he had just imagined the noise.

 

“Hello Eames.” Eames jumped up and dropping the stake, before turning around to face none other than Arthur.

 

“Jesus!” Eames hissed out. “What the hell was that for?”

 

“What was what for?” Arthur took a step back, a small smiling plaguing his face.

 

“Sneaking up on me like that? I could have staked you.”

 

“I doubt it. You dropped your stake so I really don’t think that would have happened. If I had been someone intent on hurting you, I would have succeeded.” Eames just rolled his eyes, the smartass.

 

“What are you doing here anyways?”

 

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by.” Eames didn’t believe that for a second.

 

“Why are you really here? All you do is just sit there and watch me fight. Can you even fight a vampire?”

 

“I can fight one yes. I just choose not to.”

 

“And what about this big evil thing that is coming? Do you have any more information on that?”

 

“All in good time, Mr. Eames.” Eames just sighed as he bent down to pick up his stake.

 

“Well, if you are going to come along on my patrols, you might want to think about helping out, otherwise you should just get lost.” Eames really didn’t mean that, but seriously, he needed to know what Arthur was actually doing here all the time.

 

Eames felt the ground move. Ah, perfect timing. He slowly walked back to where he was before and got ready. Arthur just stood over by a tree, crossing his arms in amusement.

 

“Glad you are comfortable over there.” Eames shouted. Arthur just laughed. Eames saw the hand appear first, sticking out of the ground as the vampire tried to get a grip on something to help pull him up out of the ground.

 

After five minutes, the vampire still wasn’t out. Sometimes Eames really questions the intelligence of these vampires, especially the ones who couldn’t even get out of the ground.

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eames hissed out, standing up. He reached out and pulled the vampire’s hand, pulling him out of the ground. The vampire just looked around a bit, dusting off his close.

 

“Thank you.” He said, turning to Eames.

 

“No problem.”  Eames kicked him in the stomach, sending him falling backwards over to the tombstone. Eames walked over and kicked him again, but the vampire grabbed him by the leg and pulled him down.

 

Eames hit his head on the tombstone, which hurt like hell. He was even sure that he saw stars.

 

“Shit.” Eames pulled himself together and tried to grab his stake, which, somehow, was nowhere to be found. What the bloody hell was wrong with him tonight?

 

He turned around just as the vampire stood up.

 

“Slayer.” He mumbled out. Eames always wondered how they knew who the slayer was. Was it imprinted in them or something? Apparently that was but not how to crawl out of your own grave.

 

Eames was about to kick the vampire when out of nowhere, a stake flies at him, hitting the vampire straight in the heart. The vampire fell back, turning into dust against the ground.

 

“How was that, Mr. Eames?” Eames sat up and saw Arthur walking towards him. “Was that good enough for the slayer?” Eames just stared at him, mouth open in shock.

 

“You did that?”

 

“Is there anyone else here?” Eames took a deep breath and stood up. Holy shit. Arthur had just thrown a stake and it hit the vampire perfectly. He didn’t even look the least bit tired or anything. His suit was still in perfect condition. Eames had never been more attracted to someone than he was at this moment.

 

“How did you…” Eames stammered. Arthur just laughed.

 

“I just did it. Goodnight Mr. Eames. Pleasant dreams.” Eames just stood there in shock, watching him leave.

 

He was in deep trouble now.

* * *

 

Eames slowly made his way to the library. He was tired and hated that Miles made him come to school extra early to discuss patrolling. On any other day he wouldn’t have cared, but today was just torture.

 

He had tried to sleep last night. He tried. He had stayed up late studying and when he did go to sleep, it was pointless. He kept thinking about Arthur and his other skills he probably had and it kept him up all night and now he was tired and he was going to fail his test today. He just knew it.

 

And it was all because Arthur could throw a stupid stake.

 

He threw his bag on the ground and slumped down in the chair. Mal, Dom and Ariadne were already there. Of course they were.

 

“Ah, Eames, nice of you to finally join us.” Miles walked in and threw a book on the table, causing Eames to jump.

 

“Sorry, couldn’t sleep last night.” Eames yawned, looking at the book.

 

_Beasts_

Well, this was going to be an interesting talk.

 

“How was patrolling last night? Anything to report?”

 

“It was normal, except I didn’t kill anything.”

 

“What?”

 

“Nope. Arthur did. Saved my ass, tell you what.”

 

“Arthur?” Dom asked, looking confused. He still didn’t have a grip on all this. He accepted it all, but yeah, still confusing to him. Eames forgot that he hadn’t really told the others about Arthur.

 

“Oh, he is this man that sort of pops up when I patrol. I really didn’t know any of his motives, but I thought he was good because he told me evil was coming. But he is a mad shot. Killed a vampire for me on the first try. Seriously Miles, his skills are amazing.”

 

“Has he told you anything else about this evil?” Miles stalked forward, completely ignoring everything else Eames had said. Good old Miles, always focusing on the evil part of things.

 

“No. I tried to ask him, but he didn’t say anything.”

 

“Try and get information out of him. We need all the help we can get on this.”

 

“So,” Eames asked, sitting up straight. “Why did you throw this beast book on the table? Is there something I should know?”

 

“There was an attack last night. A woman. She had cuts all over her body.”

 

“Bite marks?”

 

“No. It looked like an animal attack.”

 

“Animal attack?” Eames looked a bit confused. Beasts were not in the job description. “So you think she could have been attacked by something supernatural?”

 

“There are many things in this world, Eames. I want you to investigate this. The probability that it was something supernatural is very high.”

 

“Miles…” Eames groaned. “What if she got attacked by a dog or something?”

 

“Well, then you will find that out.” Eames groaned again, hitting his head against the table. The others just chuckled at his misfortune. They could laugh because they didn’t have to go out every night. How was this his life?

* * *

 

Eames failed his test. He was definitely certain about that one. Out of the hundred questions on the test, he was sure he knew like five of them. Sometimes he really just hated his life.

 

He was too busy sulking that he didn’t even look to see where he was going and ran right into someone. He heard the books drop and felt like a complete asshole. Today was seriously not going to be hid day.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry mate.” He bent down to help the man pick up the books he had dropped.

 

“It’s alright.” Eames straightened up at the accent. He looked up and examined the boy. He had never seen him before. Maybe he was new, like him. Then again, he could have gone here his whole life and Eames wouldn’t know. He had only been here a few weeks.

 

“I’m Eames, by the way.”

 

“Yusuf.” Eames smiled as he stood up, handing Yusuf his books. Most of them were Chemistry or Biology books, but one of them was about moon cycles.

 

“Moon cycles?”

 

“Oh, yeah. Interesting thing the moon, isn’t it?” Yusuf seemed a bit nervous as he quickly grabbed the book away from Eames.

 

“Yeah, brings out the crazy in all of us, am I right?” Yusuf gave a nervous chuckle before backing away.

 

“Yeah, well, I have to go. Nice meeting you Eames.”

 

“Bye…Yusuf.” Eames said to himself because Yusuf was halfway down the hallway by then.

* * *

 

Eames walked along the alley way where the woman was found attacked. Miles never really said if she died or not, Eames just assumed she did. He really didn’t think there was anything supernatural about this attack. Animals attack all the time. Miles was just grasping at straws right now, especially since he didn’t know much on this big evil that was coming.

 

“Looking for something?” Eames rolled his eyes. Of course he would be here.

 

“Arthur.” He turned around and smiled. “What a pleasure it is seeing you again so soon. Two days in a row, that is a record.” Arthur just smiled and walked forward. He was wearing a wonderfully tailored pinstriped suit today, looking like he just walked out of the 1930s.

 

“What are you doing here? This is a bit far from the cemetery, don’t you think?”

 

“Miles sent me here to try and figure out what killed this woman. She was attacked by an animal.”

 

“An animal?” Arthur looked at him, with concern.

 

“Yeah. I think it is complete nonsense…”

 

“A werewolf.”

 

“A what?”

 

“A werewolf. You know, full moon, big beast, usually attacks women. They have made a million movies about them.”

 

“Werewolves don’t exist.” Arthur just raised an eyebrow. Right. That sounded very stupid coming from Eames. “Alright. But, how can you be sure?”

 

“Last night was a full moon. It all makes sense.”

 

“Oh. Right.” He had forgotten about that. Why hadn’t Miles made that connection?

 

“She was attacked last night, was she not?” Arthur was just staring at him and lord almighty he looked fabulous. Eames really needed to get a hold of himself. This obsession with Arthur was getting a tad bit out of hand.

 

“Yeah, she was. Well, then I guess I will report to Miles tomorrow and we won’t have to worry about it till the next full moon which will be next month.” Eames gave Arthur a little nod before walking passed him.

 

“Eames.” Eames froze when Arthur grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around. “Is something wrong? You seem a bit off.” Arthur actually looked concerned for him and Eames was just really trying not to think about Arthur’s hand on him.

 

“I’m fine. Just, lack of sleep and all that.”

 

“Dreaming of me, were you?” Arthur smirked and Eames was so terrified that his obsession was obvious, but Arthur just laughed. “Go get some sleep Eames. I will patrol for you tonight.” Arthur let go of Eames’ arm and he really wished he didn’t. He wanted it back now.

 

“You don’t have to…”

 

“Go.”  Eames didn’t have to be told twice. He gave Arthur one last look before heading home.

* * *

 

“Werewolf?” Dom’s eyes were as big as the moon. “Are you being serious?”

 

“That’s what Arthur suggested.” Eames said, scanning through a book on werewolves that Miles happened to have lying about. “And it does make some sense, if you really think about it.”

 

“And so we are just going to believe this Arthur person? Whom none of us know? He could be the werewolf!”

 

“Dom, honey, calm down.” Mal whispered as she ran a hand over his leg, trying to make him relax..

 

“Maybe we can find some sort of spell that will find out who it is.” Ariadne suggested.

 

“Spell?” Eames closed the book. “Ariadne, none of us can do magic.”

 

“Well we can try. Anyone can really do magic, as long as they have the right ingredients. I have been reading books about it. It really doesn’t seem all that complicated.”

 

“Or we can just wait for the next full moon, how about that?” Eames had read about what magic did to some people. He did not need that happening to Ariadne. She was so innocent and did not need to evil of magic bringing her down.

 

“The werewolf attacks didn’t start till just now, right? So the person has to be new here.” Ariadne suggested, giving Eames a small glare for shooting down her magic idea.

 

“Oh.” Mal scooted forward in her chair, grabbing  a pen and a piece of paper. “We can go into the records and find out all the new students. We had a least twenty this year.”

 

“Twenty?” Eames was shocked. At his old school they were lucky if they got one new student per year.

 

“I can get a list from Mrs. White.” Miles stated as he set down another book in front of Eames. “Try this one. We need to see if there are any physical features that we can be on the lookout for as well. It would most certainly help narrow down our searches.”

 

“If not, we will just have to wait till the next full moon, right?” Dom seemed to have calmed down a bit.

 

“Why werewolves?” Eames said as he opened the new book. “We have this big evil coming and now werewolves and vampires. I swear this is a horror movie in the making.”

* * *

 

That night, patrolling was very uneventful.

 

Arthur didn’t show up.

 

Eames kept telling himself that he wasn’t disappointed and that he wasn’t upset, but if he was being honest with himself, he was. He had grown so accustomed to Arthur being there that when he wasn’t; Eames was actually upset that he wasn’t there.

 

Maybe he had a date or something. Arthur was sure to have a social life. He probably even had a girlfriend, or even a boyfriend. Arthur was a very attractive man; he could probably have someone new in his bed every night if he wanted to.

 

Why would he want someone like him, a kid?

 

Eames really had to get over this stupid schoolboy crush he had. It was pathetic and pointless. Arthur could really help him with this so called big evil that was coming. He didn’t want to ruin all that because he had a crush on him.

 

Eames had to get over Arthur. He just had to.

 

And what better way to do that than to date someone else.

 

It would be the perfect distraction from Arthur. He could find a really nice girl (girl because he wanted it to be the complete opposite of Arthur) who wouldn’t question what he did at night. He really just needed someone to take his mind off of Arthur until he got his crush under control.

 

It would be perfect. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> I am really glad that you are all liking this story.  
> I wasn't actually going to update this one so soon, but I got in a writing mood and wrote out another chapter. But I need to work on my other stories, so I will try and update asap.

“So, um, about the Civil War…” Eames started, opening his history book and flipping through to find the chapter they were on.

 

“Who cares about the Civil War?” Ariadne replied with a sigh as she fell back onto the bed, kicking her history book onto the floor.

 

“Well, you should, considering we have a huge test on it tomorrow that counts for fifty percent of our grade.” Ariadne just sighed loudly. Eames just laughed. It was funny how he was the one that was more focused on studying than she was.

 

Tonight he had left patrolling to Mal and Dom because of this History test. It was the biggest test of the semester and Eames really had to pass this. And besides, Mal had been getting on him about wanting to help out. So this was her chance to prove that she could do it. He had called Ariadne over because he thought she would want to study, but no, History was the last thing on her mind tonight.

 

“Ariadne, I called you over here to help me study. If you don’t want to you can leave.”

 

“I do Eames, I do, I just…” She let out a little grunt of frustration and sat up. “I just really want to show you something but I’m afraid you will be mad.”

 

“What is it?” She was silent for a bit before taking a deep breath and finally answering him.

 

“I have been practicing some minor spells.”

 

“Ariadne…” Eames was trying to remain calm. And it was a struggle.

 

“Don’t be upset…”

 

“I told you to stay away from magic.” Eames made sure to keep his voice down. He did not need his mum coming up. “Nothing good will ever come from it.” Eames closed his history book, planning to give Ariadne a stern talking to but she jumped off the bed, ready to argue.

 

“I know Eames! Believe me, I know.” She was pacing now. “And I tried to stay away but Eames, it is like I was meant to do magic. I tried a simple spell and it worked the first time.  I really think I was meant to do this.”

 

“Meant to do this?” Eames scooted closer to the edge of the bed. “What do you mean that you were meant to do this?”

 

“I mean, I read that when someone tries to do magic, it could take them up to a year to be able to perfect even the simplest if spells. But me, I did it on the first try.”

 

“Show me.” Eames asked. He needed to see this. If Ariadne was telling the truth, then maybe, it could be alright. Maybe. But he would have to see.

 

“Alright.” She sat down on the floor and closed her eyes.  She started mumbling things in a language that Eames didn’t understand. But if he had to guess, it was probably Latin.  He glanced around the room to try and figure out what exactly it was that she was doing. But so far he hadn’t noticed anything different. He jumped up when he saw that his history book was now floating in the air right next to his head.

 

He smiled as he just watched it float higher and higher off the bed. He turned around.

 

“Ariadne…” But he stopped short when he saw that most of the small objects in his room were now floating in the air. He looked over at Ariadne and she looked like this was about as easy as walking. She had her eyes open and she was smiling up at him. “This is amazing.”

 

“Isn’t it?” She looked like a little kid in a chocolate store. It was amazing. Eames loved magic. He really did. It was amazing what magic could do. He just hated what it did to people. He had seen and heard what it did. Charles hated magic so he made sure Eames knew the consequences.

 

Charles had taken him to a woman who had become so addicted to magic that she had killed everyone she knew and loved. It was awful seeing what had become of her. She had to get her magic drained for her. She was nothing now, just a shade of what she was before.

 

But as long as Ariadne had complete control and didn’t let it take over her life, it actually could prove to be quite useful.

 

He watched as all the objects slowly fell back to where they once were, as if nothing had touched them.

 

“You truly are amazing.” Ariadne just smiled up at him.

 

“You think so?”

 

“Yes. And, I am not a big fan of magic, because I know what it can do to people who can’t control it. But, it seems that you can, so, you know, just be careful.”

 

“Thanks Eames.” She walked forward and pulled him into a hug, resting her head on his chest. “You are a good friend.” Eames held her a bit longer before pulling away and getting back on the bed. Ariadne crawled onto the bed next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

 

“So, um, Ariadne, I have something to ask you.”

 

“Sure. Lay it on me.”

 

“Um, well, would you happen to know any nice girls who happen to be, um, single?” She straightened up and looked up at him.

 

“Um, yeah, I do, but, um, wouldn’t you prefer a nice boy instead?” Eames laughed.

 

“I’m trying not to think about a boy, so a girl would be nice.” He saw her eyes widen and he knew he said something wrong. She was going to ask him so many questions now. All questions he did not want to answer.

 

“Who is this boy? Do I know him? Come on Eames, tell me everything. I need details.”

 

“I don’t want to tell you because I am just…” Eames fell back and turned so that he buried his face in the pillow. He did not want to tell Ariadne about Arthur.

 

“But do I know the man? Like, does he go to our school?”

 

“No.” Eames mumbled over the pillow.

 

“No to both?” Eames just nodded. Ariadne was silent for a bit. “You have a crush on Arthur!” Ariadne shouted. Eames shot up so fast that he hit his head on the headboard. Ariadne gave a little chuckle. “Am I right?” Eames just glared at her. “Eames…”

 

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

“You need to tell me about him.”

 

“I don’t want to even think about him, why would I want to talk about him?”

 

“Eames. You are going to try and date the exact opposite of him. I need to know what he is like so I don’t set you up with the wrong girl.” He looked over at her and realized that she had a point.

 

“Alright.” She rolled over on the bed and put her hands under her chin and smiled up at him.

 

“Okay, so tell me about this mysterious Arthur.”

 

“Well he is gorgeous. He is tall and lean and wears the most expensive and tailored suits. Seriously, it is just, perfection. He is perfection.”

 

“I wouldn’t have expected that you liked your men dressed for perfection.”

 

“It all depends on how the man wears it. Arthur wears his suits like he knows he is hot shit.

 

“Oh, so he is cocky?”

 

“But he has every reason to be.  I mean, if you saw him Ariadne, you would know.”

 

“Well, why can’t I see him?”

 

“Well, I only see him when I patrol. And you should have seen when he helped me. Oh my god I don’t think I have ever been so turned on in my whole life.”

 

“So, I don’t get it Eames. Why are you trying to get over him? Why aren’t you making a move on this man? Why not ask him out?”

 

“Well for one, I don’t want him to reject me. I don’t think I could handle it.”

 

“Why would he reject you? You are a hot piece of ass.” Eames laughed at that.

 

“Ariadne, he is older than me. In fact, I don’t even know how old he is. He wouldn’t want anything to do with a kid like me, I just know it.”

 

“Now, you don’t know that. Maybe his moral compass faces a little south.” Eames just looked at her. He knew that wasn’t the case. All he cared about was probably that Eames was the slayer and that he was doing his job. “I think he likes you Eames. Why else would he come and see you when you are patrolling all the time.”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe he really likes vampires or something. Or it likes the thrill or something.  I don’t really question it Ariadne.”

 

“Okay. Well, since you are dead set on not even making a try at him, I will try and find a girl that is blonde and maybe a bit ditzy?” Eames just sighed.

 

“Yeah, whatever.” This plan was not going according to plan at all. Now he really wanted to be with Arthur. Why did Arthur go on patrol with him all the time? Was there some ulterior motive behind it all?

 

Eames knew he should be brave and make a move. But he was too afraid of being rejected. He liked Arthur way too much to just throw it all out the window.

 

“Come on, let’s study. We do have a test after all.” Eames just smiled as he grabbed his book and slowly opened it.

 

Maybe this would get his mind off of Arthur.

* * *

 

The werewolf case was going nowhere.

 

Miles had attained a list of new students that had transferred there within the last month, and there was like ten of them. Mal had been a little overboard with saying there was twenty. But ten was still quite a bit.

 

And Eames didn’t know anyone on the list, except Yusuf, and himself. Eames made a mental note to talk to him the next time he saw him. But he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the man since he ran into him the other day.

 

And Ariadne was still looking into spells that could help determine if someone was a werewolf.  At the moment she was a little preoccupied with trying to find Eames the perfect date. And really, they had time before the next full moon.

 

In the meantime, he was stuck with patrolling with Arthur and getting nothing from him except more reasons as to why he was so damn perfect.

 

So, basically, tonight was like any other night. Eames was out patrolling, humming some random song he had heard before he went out, while he walked about the cemetery, trying to find any fresh graves. He was even doing some minor dancing when he heard a chuckle come from behind him. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around.

 

“You got some moves on you there.” Arthur was leaning against a tree, looking like the definition of handsome. And he was smiling at him, something that made Eames feel all gooey inside.

 

“Thanks.” Eames turned around before Arthur could see him blush. Arthur had seen him dancing like a complete idiot. Really, Eames just showed his age right here and now and Arthur was really only ever going to see him as a child, as some immature teenager. Which in reality that is what he was, but still, he could be mature.

 

“So, anything on the werewolf yet?”

 

“Nope. We are researching and we have a list of five potential candidates. But that is pretty much it.”

 

“That’s good.” Arthur replied, as he walked over so that now he was standing right next to him. “So, I have some information for you.” Eames almost tripped over his own feet at the statement.

 

“Information? Really?”  This was out of the ordinary. Usually Eames had to ask him for information. Arthur never flat out told him anything. Today must have been a special day.

 

“Yes.  Cobol.” Eames waited for him to continue but when he didn’t Eames knew it was too good to be true. Of course Arthur would be very vague with the information.

 

“Cobol? What is that?”

 

“It is more of whom really. Just, research it. You will find more than enough information. Although I am shocked that you don’t know who he is.”

 

“Is this Cobol the big bad that you were talking about?” Eames asked, stepping a bit closer. “How long have you known this? And you are just now telling me?”

 

“I had to be sure.” Arthur took a step back, looking offended. “I didn’t want to give you bad information.”

 

“Oh.” Eames looked down. Now he felt like an asshole.

 

 Cobol. Who was this Cobol person? He had never heard that name before, although it seems like it should be familiar. He felt like he had heard that name before but he doesn’t know where he had heard it. Eames turned and continued on his way through the cemetery. He figured he was alone for the rest of night, having offended Arthur somehow.

 

“Are you upset that I didn’t fill you in sooner?” Eames turned back around only to find Arthur right behind him.

 

“Well, a little. Guesses would have been nice, you know. Anything really besides that there is evil coming. Miles has been driving me crazy with all these random ideas on what it could be you know. Something to narrow it down would have been better than what you gave us.”

 

“Oh, sorry.” Eames looked over and saw that Arthur actually looked sort of guilty. Great. He had just made everything worse. He ran a hand over his face and let out deep breath.

 

“Don’t be. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t really be upset about this. Information is information. You probably have some busy life and a girlfriend or something like that. Your life doesn’t revolve around me or anything like that.” Eames winced. He had just rambled on like an idiot and brought up that Arthur might have a girlfriend.

 

Could he be any more stupid? Eames seriously needs to learn to shut up sometimes.

 

Arthur let out a small chuckle.

 

“Well, you are right, I have been rather busy lately. But a woman is not the cause.” Eames hated that he didn’t specify that he wasn’t busy with a man either. Arthur could be going home after this and fucking some gorgeous man all night long. “Sorry it took me so long to get the information correct.”

 

“Well, I guess it is better that the information is correct instead of just some stupid guess that is way out in space somewhere.” Eames gave him an apologetic smile which earned him a smile from Arthur.

 

Arthur actually stayed with Eames throughout the rest of the patrol. He just talked about things and asked about Eames and his life.

 

It was nice. In fact, it was more than nice. It was perfect. And there were no vampires that night to interrupt any of it.

* * *

 

Eames walked into the library with a smile on his face the next morning. Last night had been amazing. Just talking and walking with Arthur had been perfect. It felt so normal, like they did that every day. It had almost seemed like a date, even if they were in a cemetery. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be forgetting about Arthur until Ariadne ran up to him.

 

“Eames! I have the perfect date for you.”

 

“Date?”

 

“Um, yes. Date. You remember that you asked me to set you up with someone, right?”

 

“Oh, right.” Shit. He didn’t want a date now. Ariadne gave him a confused look before continuing on with her date news.

 

“Her name is Katie. She is on the cheerleading squad. She is cute and bouncy and blonde. We are all going to the Bronze tonight so that is when you will meet her.”

 

“Tonight?”

 

“Yes. Everyone is already okay with it, even Miles.” Eames just nodded before walking over to the table. Well, his mood was ruined a bit. But he was happy to have a night off from patrolling. But what if Arthur showed up and he wasn’t there? Eames shouldn’t even think about things like that.

 

This was what he had wanted. He needs to stick with his plan.

 

“So, Eames.” Miles said, walking over to them. “You mentioned that you had something very important to tell us.”

 

“Yes. Right. Well, um, Arthur gave me more information last night about this big bad evil that is coming.”

 

“He did. Just last night?”

 

“Yes. Apparently he was making sure his guess was correct.” All of them just stared at him.

 

“Well?” Mal asked, anxious.

 

“Oh, right. He said it was someone named Cobol. I don’t know who it is but it sounds like something I should know.” Eames looked up and saw that Miles was white. “Um, do you know who this Cobol person is?” Miles didn’t respond. He just turned and went into his office.

 

Eames turned to look at Mal but she just shrugged. So she didn’t know either. Well, he was glad he wasn’t alone here.

 

“This is worse than I thought.” Miles said, walking over and throwing a book on the table. Eames reached over and grabbed it. It didn’t look like some textbook, but more of a diary. It was old and torn up. It was bound together by a flimsy piece of string.

 

“Wait, did you say worse?” Eames asked, looking up at him. “Who is this Cobol person?”

 

“Cobol is the worst evil you could ever imagine.”

 

“Oh, well, that’s interesting.” Dom said, speaking up for the first time that morning. “I can imagine so pretty evil things, and you are saying that this guy is worse than all that?”

 

“He is the oldest supernatural being on this planet. He was the first evil.”

 

“Well, why is he coming back now? Why not destroy everything a long time ago?” Ariadne asked, stealing the book away from Eames. She would probably have more use of it than he did.

 

“He did have control. Everyone feared him. And when he got bored of humans, he made all the supernatural beings. They all followed him, obeyed him, and feared him as well. But then some of them rebelled. He is how the slayer came to be. Some witches got tired of following him and fearing him. So they created the Slayer, something to stop the evil of the world. One woman from a village volunteered to sacrifice herself to save the human race.”

 

“Oh.” That is where Eames had heard that name. His old watcher told him the story of the first slayer. She was created to defeat the real definition of evil. He must have just forgotten the name.

 

“You know the story Eames?”

 

“Yeah. The witches gave her the power to defeat him. And she did. But the powers stayed with her and she passed them down after she died. A strong woman is randomly chosen after the slayer’s death to continue to protect the world from evil. It has been going on for centuries and will continue until the world does not need to be protected by evil. But until then, the slayer will always be around.”

 

“So, if this slayer defeated Cobol, how is he coming back?” Mal looked over at her father.

 

“She didn’t really defeat him. Cobol isn’t actually a corporeal being. He can be whoever he wants. He can change his appearance and everything. He is the pure essence of evil.”

 

“She trapped him in hell.” Ariadne added. Eames looked over at her. She had the book open and was avidly reading through it.

 

“So, do you think he was just waiting around for centuries for the opportune moment?”

 

“It seems that way. He must have found a way to escape. But, no one can really escape hell. He must have found some hole in the system.”

 

“Unless he wants to undo the spell?” Ariadne looked up as everyone turned their attention to her.

 

“Spell?” Miles asked, leaning forward and resting his hands on the table.

 

“Well, there has to be a spell trapping him in hell. Do you know what it was?”

 

“I don’t.”

 

“Well, I can try and research it. But we need to figure it out so we know what his plan is and stop it.” Eames nodded.

 

“I can try and figure out what Arthur knows. I think he knows something and just isn’t telling.”

 

“Eames.” Miles straightened up. “This Arthur person, you should bring him here. I would like to speak with him. See what he knows and all that.”

 

“Um, sure. I can ask him. I don’t think you could force Arthur to do anything though. But I will ask.”

 

“Okay.” The bell rang and startled all of them. “Research this, guys. We need to be a head of this.”

 

“What about the werewolf?” Eames asked, standing up.

 

“That is not as important as this. The whole planet could be destroyed if Cobol gets out.”

 

“Okay. Thanks for that. That is surely not to ruin my day. No, not at all.” Dom replied as he walked out of the library, Mal laughing behind him. Eames just smiled as he and Ariadne left to go to class.

 

Things like this didn’t really bother Eames too much. That was what his life would entail from now on. Stopping apocalypses every day.

 

What he really needed to think about was his so called date tonight.

* * *

 

 Eames is sitting at a table in the back of the Bronze with Ariadne, Dom, Mal and Katie, his date. She is smiling and laughing and talking up a storm with Mal.

 

Ariadne had done her job well. She was the complete opposite of Arthur.

 

She would have been the perfect distraction from Arthur.

 

But now, Eames didn’t want a distraction. But he couldn’t just ditch her now. She seemed to be really enjoying herself. And he was not that much of a jerk.

 

He was always a gentleman on dates. And Katie did seem like a nice girl. She just wasn’t Eames’ type.

 

“I want to dance.” Katie said with a smile. “Eames, come on.” She jumped up, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the dance floor. He looked back and saw the others all smiling and waving him on.

 

Katie pulled him close and slowly began to move to the music. Eames hated dancing like this. It is so awkward and he never knows what to do. She seemed to sense this and placed his arms on her waist, pulling them closer together. Eames just smiled and slowly moved along.

 

He can make it through this one dance. He could do that for her.

 

But this one dance turned into three more.  Mal and Dom have joined them now. Although Eames doesn’t fully believe that dancing is all that they are doing and he can see that Katie is starting to get that way and he just wants to get out of here.

 

Katie has her back to his chest and his running her hand back through his hair, grinding against him and seriously, this is the most awkward he has ever felt.

 

And it only gets worse. Of course it only gets worse.

 

Eames looked up to see where Aridane was and to figure out why she wasn’t with them dancing her little heart out and froze when he saw that she was talking to none other than Arthur.

 

What the fuck?

 

Eames was about to go over there when Ariadne looked over and smiled at him, pointing over in his direction. Arthur looks over and locks eyes with Eames and Eames cannot even begin to describe what emotion Arthur’s face held.

 

It looked hurt, disgusted, angry and just overall upset.

 

Eames looked down. Arthur was no supposed to be here. He was supposed to be having a life. But why should he care what Arthur felt about his so called date. But he couldn’t help but be a little bit upset by Arthur being upset.

 

Eames slowly pulled himself away from Katie and walked over to where Arthur was standing with Ariadne.

 

“What are you doing here?” Eames hissed. He was mad right now. He was trying not to be mad, but it was hard. Arthur was not supposed to be here. Him being here made everything so much worse.

 

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” Arthur stepped forward, invading Eames’ personal space. “A fucking apocalypse is coming and you are here trying to get laid?” Arthur hissed out and Eames had never seen him so angry before.  But why did Arthur care who Eames slept with. He really had no plans to sleep with Katie, but still.

 

“Who I fuck is none of your concern.”

 

“It does concern me when you have a job to do and that particular job is to save the world.” Eames just sighed.

 

“Look, we are researching what is going on but Cobol isn’t coming out tonight, so I think it is safe to say that we are safe for the night.” Mal and Dom have now come over and are eyeing Arthur with interest, trying to figure out who he is. Eames had forgotten that they had never actually met Arthur. Ariadne is just smiling like the bird that ate the canary.

 

Eames really wouldn’t mind if the ground opened up and swallowed him whole right now.

 

“I came here to tell you that something urgent is happening and that I need you to come with me to do your fucking job.” Eames sighed.

 

“Urgent?” Arthur just nodded. “Great.” He turned and saw Katie walking towards him. He would have to leave Katie here and now she was going to hate him and spread rumors about him all over the school. Tonight was just not going to be his night.

 

“Hey. What’s going on?” She asked, a small smile on her face.

 

“I have to leave. Something came up for work and I have to go.” Her face fell a bit.

 

“Will you be back?”

 

“I don’t know. I will try.” She nodded.

 

“Okay.” Well, that was easy. Eames was about to back away when she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in for a quick kiss. “Just in case.” She pulled away and just smiled before going back to the dance floor.

 

Well, that had been a bit uncalled for. He turned around and saw Ariadne and Mal smirking and Dom just laughing. Eames sighed and walked passed Arthur. He didn’t even want to know what his face looked like.

* * *

 

The walk to the cemetery was silent. Awkward silence. Eames felt awful and Arthur just looked mad. Eames decided that he needed to break the silence. He didn’t feel at fault here, but he knew Arthur wouldn’t say anything so he had to be the bigger man here. And he might as well try and find out what exactly he is doing out here anyways.

 

“So, what was so urgent?” Eames asked as they entered the cemetery. Arthur was silent for a bit before finally answering him.

 

“Cobol has followers. Loyal followers. He always had them.  I have seen some around Sunnydale. So whatever he is planning, it is soon.”

 

“What exactly are his followers? Are they just like him or what?”

 

“Vampires. They must be the ones that are going to try and bring him back.”

 

“Oh. Okay.” He could handle vampires. That wouldn’t be so bad. “So, do you know anything else about them?”

 

“No.” Arthur replied curtly.

 

“Oh, well, Miles wanted to know if you would come in sometime. He wants to speak with you about what you know and all that.” Arthur stopped walking and looked over at him.

 

“Why?”

 

“I don’t know. He is just curious I guess.”

 

“Well, as much as I appreciate the offer, I don’t think that is a good idea.”

 

“Why…” But Eames stopped talking when he saw a group of men huddled over a grave. “Is that them?” Arthur nodded.

 

“Yes. That would be them.” Eames let out a small sigh and pulled out his stake.

 

“Alright then. Let’s get this over with.” Eames walked over to the group, twirling his stake around. They didn’t hear him so he decided to make his presence known, and what better way than sarcasm. “My guess is that you don’t know um, Miss Alicia Adams over there, do you?” The men all turned around, vampire faces on, ready to attack. Perfect.

 

Eames was about to charge forward when a voice stopped him.

 

“Fall back gentlemen.” Eames straightened up as an Asian man dressed up in a nice suit that was very similar to Arthur’s stepped forward.  He was still in his human face, so Eames was unsure if he was a vampire or not, but he was pretty sure that he was, since he was with the others. “We are not to harm the slayer, remember.”

 

“What?” One of them hissed out.

 

“He wants him all to himself.”

 

“I don’t care if you can’t kill me. But I am killing you.” Eames ran forward, kicking the man back. He was tired of listening to them yap. He wanted to go home and think about how he was going to get out of this huge mess he was in with Arthur. The vampires turned on him then, attacking him all at once. He did well for a while. He staked one right away but then it became obvious that he was definitely outnumbered.

 

Where the bloody hell was Arthur? Eames couldn’t see him. He thought he was right next to him when he had attacked, but it was obvious now that Arthur was not with him. Had he really abandoned him? Eames managed to stake another one but then they all backed away. The man from before, the leader, walked up to him and picked him up by the neck and held up off the ground. Eames struggled for breath and tried to get free. The man snarled at him, revealing his vampire face.

 

“You are going to be so much more trouble than it’s worth. But like I said, I can’t kill you.”

 

“Let him go.” Eames looked over and saw Arthur standing there. He looked angry and prepared to fight. The man just smiled. “Saito, let him go.” Saito, as he is now called, threw Eames away, making him to hit a tombstone head first.

 

Eames was a little bit lost for a second, but he pulled himself together to get up, but when he looked around, he realized that he was all alone.

 

Arthur was gone, and so were Saito and the vampires. The grave was still untouched, but everyone was gone. What the fuck? Eames wiped away the blood that was falling over his face as he slowly left the cemetery and made his way back to the Bronze.

 

Well, at least he had something to tell Miles on Monday.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> I am so sorry for taking so long to update. Some things have come up and for a while I was without a computer and my motivation was just down.
> 
> But, have a longer chapter to make up for it!

It had been exactly a week since the horrible night, as Eames like to call it. The horrible night consisted of the disaster of a date with Katie, Arthur showing up and ruining said date even more, awkward patrolling with Arthur, and meeting Saito, who worked for Cobol.

 

One whole week.

 

Arthur hasn’t shown up on patrol for this whole week. Eames really had no idea what got Arthur all upset but it was seriously affecting Eames’ sleeping pattern. Eames couldn’t sleep.

 

And when he did sleep, all he thought about was Arthur. What if something had happened and he had died? What if he left town without telling him? What if Arthur hated him and never wanted to speak or see him again?

 

It was a ridiculous thought, but Eames thought it may have had something to do with his date with Katie. Arthur had not seemed pleased that Eames was on a date to begin with, he had even stated as much. But that didn’t mean Arthur could go and just ignore him.

 

Eames may not know the exact reason behind Arthur’s disappearance, but he still ignored Katie after their date. After going back to the Bronze, he continued with their date and even walked her home. He made the promise to call her yet, he never did.

 

And boy was she pissed. She outright slapped him at school that Monday for ignoring her calls and texts. He really didn’t know why she was so upset. It’s not like they slept together or anything. Sure he promised to call her, but what idiot would say he won’t call her on her own doorstep. Eames was just being a gentleman. She should have really known better.

 

Ariadne yelled at him quite a bit for making her work to find the perfect person for him when she could have been working on finding a spell, and to make matters worse, that he half assed the date all because Arthur showed up and the whole point was to try and forget about Arthur. It was all just one huge mess.

 

His whole life was such a mess, if he really thought about it.

 

And the full moon was slowly approaching and Ariadne still hadn’t found any spell that could help them out and Eames really didn’t want another death on his hands. He didn’t need to feel guilty about that as well.

 

Miles was still looking into Cobol and not telling him anything.

 

It really felt like everyone was ignoring him. Even Dom and Mal weren’t really doing anything. They were planning a trip for winter break or something like that. So they weren’t around the library as much either.

 

So really, everything was just not going the way Eames was expecting it to right now. All that was left for Eames to do was train and patrol. At least he couldn’t fuck that up.

 

Eames made his way down the stairs ready to head out when his mum stopped him at the door.

 

“Will?” He turned and watched as she walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Where are you going?” She looked concerned. Of course, she had looked concerned all this week.

 

“For a walk.” It was best to keep things simple.

 

“A walk? At this time of night?” Great. Now was not the time for her to begin questioning things about his life.

 

“I need to clear my head. This week has been a bit hectic for me.”

 

“Do you need to talk about it?” His mum stepped closer. “Does this concern a girl or a boy?”

 

“Neither. Just school and all that.” Eames gave her a reassuring smile, hoping it would let her change the subject. “You know if I needed to talk I would talk to you.” She studied him for a bit before letting him go.

 

“Alright. As long as your homework is done.”

 

“It’s done. Be back later.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek before running out the door.

 

It was nice outside. The wind was blowing but Eames was fine in just jeans and a t-shirt. A beautiful night to kill some vampires. This was one thing he loved about California. The weather.

 

He walked into the cemetery and glanced around. It seemed quiet. He didn’t hear anything. Usually he could hear some mischief going on, but tonight there was nothing. So maybe tonight would be a quiet one.

 

“Hello.” Eames jumped and turned around, stake in hand, ready to attack.

 

There, smirking at him was a man. He was tall and skinny and looked like trouble. He was an odd looking man with greasy hair. If Eames would have seen him on the streets he would have looked the other way.

 

“Who are you?” Eames asked, taking a step back. The man just laughed.

 

“My name is Nash. And you must be the slayer.” Nash walked towards him, circling around him.

 

“What do you want?” Eames hissed out. He didn’t like this man. He just oozed trouble.

 

“I work for Cobol. And you see, he isn’t very happy with what you did to Saito’s men the other night.” Eames didn’t know what the big deal was. Eames didn’t kill most of them. They all got away. Nash then stopped walking and looked around. “Say, shouldn’t Arthur be out here with you?”

 

“What?”

 

“Arthur. Tall, pale, lean, gorgeous, and dresses like he is someone fucking important. I believe he patrols with you most nights.”

 

“He’s not here tonight, obviously.” Eames turned to continue on his way. He didn’t have time for Nash and his obvious taunting. Cobol didn’t want Eames dead, so Nash couldn’t do anything to him. It was simple.

 

“Trouble in paradise?” Eames turned around and glared at him.

 

“How do you know about Arthur?”

 

“Oh, I know a lot more about Arthur than you do my friend.” Nash smirked at him and Eames had to resist to urge to punch him right then and there. “I have seen more of him too, if you know what I mean.” Eames made sure he didn’t react to that. He didn’t need to show weakness.

 

“You are an ex of Arthur’s. Great. I can see why he left you. Now, I have work to do.” Eames didn’t know why Nash was bothering him and using Arthur to do it.

 

And if Eames did see Arthur again, he would really question his taste in men. Because Nash, well, Nash is just yuck. Why would someone like Arthur be with him? It just didn’t make sense.

 

“Arthur is not everything you think he is slayer. You might want to pick your friends a bit better.”

 

“Look.” Eames stepped forward. “What do you want? Because all you are doing right now is pissing me off.”

 

“What do I want? I am here to send a message.” And before Eames could even react, he felt something in his gut. He looked down and saw that Nash had stabbed his stake (how he had gotten it, Eames didn’t know) into Eames’ stomach.

 

He let out a small gasp as Nash smirked over him, vampire face revealed.

 

“Give my regards to Arthur.” Nash let go of the stake and was gone before Eames could even comprehend what had happened. Eames tried to stay standing but it was too much for him.

 

His shirt was beginning to absorb the blood that was spilling out from his wound. He gripped onto a tombstone but fell to the ground. He needed to get to his phone. He needed to call someone for help. He didn’t know who right now, but someone to come and get him. The first person in his phone. Hopefully they would pick up and come get him.

 

He knew he wouldn’t die from this injury, but still. He was in pain. He needed help and fast.

 

“Eames?” Eames must be hallucinating because that sounded a lot like Arthur. “Eames? What the fuck happened?” Eames looked over and saw Arthur kneeling down next to him. What was he doing here? Arthur reached forward and pulled the stake out. Eames let out a small gasp from the pain and leaned forward, touching Arthur’s hand.

 

He was real.

 

“You’re really here.” Arthur just rolled his eyes at him. Typical of Arthur.

 

“Yes. Now what happened?”

 

“I met your ex boyfriend. He is quite the charmer.” Arthur didn’t say anything at first as he helped Eames stand up.

 

“What are you talking about?” Eames fell back against the adjacent mausoleum.

 

“Nash.” Arthur’s eyes widened.

 

“Nash did this to you?” Eames just nodded, holding on to where his wound was. “What did he say?”

 

“Well, he basically told me that you two have fucked.” Arthur let out a small sigh.

 

“Besides that.”

 

“So he wasn’t lying?” Eames didn’t care if he sounded jealous at this point. “You dated a fucking vampire!” Arthur seemed to just ignore his accusations.

 

“Eames, did he say anything else that is relevant?” So Arthur was going to be like that.

 

“Whatever. Nash did this to me to send a message from Cobol. Now I’m going home.” Eames pushed himself up and started walking home. Well, he was really limping, but he had his pride so he was walking.

 

“Let me walk you home.” Arthur grabbed his arm but Eames pulled away.

 

“Why? Shouldn’t you be off ignoring me?” Arthur gave him another glare before grabbing his arm again and helping him home. It was the most awkward and silent walk home in the history of Eames’ life.

 

As they approached the house, Eames stopped.

 

“The back. My mom is probably sleeping. I don’t need her to see me like this.” Arthur just nodded before walking him to the back door. “You can come in. I might need some help cleaning this up.” Arthur still didn’t say anything, opening the back door quietly.

 

Eames pulled away and went to find the first aid kit that was under the sink. He pulled it out and set it on the table. Arthur still looked uncomfortable. Eames knew he wasn’t in the wrong, but he still needed to apologize to Arthur. Maybe that would get him to lighten up.

 

“Look, I’m sorry. You can date whoever the hell you want. Something about Nash obviously struck your fancy. No harm done, alright? I’m sorry if I offended you or something.”

 

“I was young and stupid.” Arthur whispered.

 

“Right. Look, can you help me clean this wound?” Arthur nodded as he walked over and opened the first aid kit. Eames winced as he pulled his shirt over his head. He would have to do something about that so his mom doesn’t find it. That would not be a fun talk if she found it.

 

Eames knows that this is really risky since his mom was asleep just one floor up, but as long as Arthur is quick, everything will be fine.

 

“You ready?” Eames nodded and turned around only to find that Arthur had gone still.  He was just staring at Eames chest. It was almost comical, and Eames would have made a joke but he was in too much pain at the moment. “What?”

 

“Nothing. Just, thought that minors weren’t supposed to have tattoos.” Eames looked down, remembering the one he had on his hip and smiled. Arthur had just checked him out. This was not the time for that, but still, small victory for Eames.

 

“Well, different country, remember? And besides, a mate of mine did this for me a while back.”

 

“Oh.” Eames slowly sat up on the counter so that Arthur could properly see the wound and clean it efficiently. “Sorry about this week.” Arthur whispered as he worked on the wound.

 

“No problem. I can patrol alone. No big deal. You were probably busy…”

 

“I was ignoring you.”

 

“Oh. Well, um…” Eames winced as Arthur wrapped a bandage tightly around his stomach.

 

“I was jealous and upset and let my feelings get in the way. It will not happen again. There is too much at stake for me to get mad over something so trivial.” Eames couldn’t breathe.

 

Arthur had been jealous? Was this real life? Did he hear him right? What was going on right now?

 

“Wait, you were jealous?” Arthur remained looking down. “Do you like me Arthur?”

 

“Of course I like you. I wouldn’t be here fixing your wound if I hated you.”

 

“I mean, do you like me in a want to shag way or what?” Arthur looked up at him then.

 

“Um, well, I wouldn’t go that far but…” Eames didn’t let him finish. Before he could think about what his actions would do, he wrapped his legs around Arthur’s hips and pulled him closer and crashed his lips to his.

 

And Arthur didn’t push him away. No. Arthur pulled him closer.

 

Kissing Arthur was even more amazing than Eames had ever dreamed of it being. It was slow and passionate. It felt like Arthur was spilling everything into this kiss, and Eames was doing the same thing. All the frustration and tension from all their patrols was just poured out to each other in this one moment.

 

It was perfect.

 

Arthur ran his hands over Eames’ chest and the coldness of his hands sent a chill throughout Eames’ body. Eames’s hands went right for Arthur’s hair, messing it up, causing his fingers to get sticky from all the gel that Arthur had used that day. But it was worth it.

 

Eames really felt like he could spend the rest of his life kissing Arthur. He wanted to do it all the time. Eames may not be as experienced but Arthur clearly was and that was not a bad thing. Right now Eames didn’t care who Arthur had been with. All that mattered was that he was kissing Eames and not wanting to stop.

 

But of course, all good things must come to an end.

 

Arthur pulled away suddenly, pushing Eames back so hard that he almost fell off the counter.

 

“Whoa, what the hell Arthur?” Eames asked in between breaths. Arthur wasn’t looking at him. He was hunched over, covering his face and Eames could tell he was trying to control his breathing. “Arthur?”

 

Eames hopped off the counter and walked towards him.

 

“Arthur, what’s wrong?” Eames touched his shoulder and Arthur straightened up, pushing him away as he looked at him.

 

Eames’ body went cold. The person in front of him was Arthur, but he had the face of a vampire.

 

Arthur was a vampire. He had been a vampire the entire time. And Eames had invited him into his house. Eames had made out with a vampire. Everything made sense now. How Arthur knew everything about Cobol.

 

Arthur must work for Cobol. He was probably using Eames to get information and all that.

 

How could Eames have been so blind to it all? All the signs were there.

 

Eames didn’t know what else to do so he punched Arthur in the face. Arthur fell back, knocking over a plant.

 

“Get the fuck out of my house.” Eames hissed, punching him again. Arthur slowly backed away until he hit the door. He gave Eames one last look before stumbling out of the house.

 

Eames took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He heard some noise upstairs and knew that his mum was awake.

 

“William? What is going on down there?”

 

“Sorry mum! I thought I saw something.”

 

“Is it alright?”

 

“Yeah. It’s fine. I just knocked over a plant.” Eames looked out the door where Arthur had just left.

 

But it wasn’t fine. It wasn’t fine at all.

* * *

 

Eames didn’t want to go to school the next day. He wanted to stay home and mope about the fact that Arthur was a vampire.

 

Of course the one person Eames found attractive here would be a vampire. It was like fate. A slayer could never have a normal life. Little things like this made sure of that.

 

But he knew his mom would make him go to school. She hated when he skipped school. But if today got any worse, he would definitely forge a note or something. Today was not the day to deal with high school shit.

 

He walked into to school and slowly made his way to the library. He didn’t want to have to tell Miles about Arthur. He wanted to just ignore it and forget that it even happened. But he knew Miles would figure it out somehow.

 

Everyone knew about Arthur. And they would bring him up all the time and Eames couldn’t deal with hearing that over and over again. He needed to get everything out now so it wouldn’t come up later.

 

He walked into the library and saw that everyone was already there, sitting around the table, conversing with each other like it was any normal day. That just made him feel worse. They were all happy when he felt like shit.

 

“Eames!” Mal shouted, standing up. “You are late.”

 

“Um.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I have some bad news guys.”

 

“Bad news.” Miles stood up and walked over to him. “What kind of bad news?”

 

“Um, well, Arthur isn’t going to be of any help now. So, we can get rid of any idea that involves him.”

 

“Why? What happened?”

 

“Um, well,” He might as well just spit it out. No use in dodging corners. “Arthur is a vampire.” Eames watched as everyone’s faces fell in shock. “Yeah, and there is a possibility that he has just been using us all and probably works for Cobol.”

 

“Well, that sucks.” Ariadne replied as she gave Eames a sad look. Eames just sighed and plopped down next to her, dropping his head onto the table.

 

“You have to kill him Eames.” Miles said as he walked into his office.

 

“I don’t think I can.” Ariadne was running a hand over his back.

 

“How did you find out about him being a vampire?” Ariadne whispered, leaning closer to him.

 

“I was patrolling, and I met this guy who worked for Cobol. His name is Nash, and apparently, he use to date Arthur. Nash said he had a message for me and then he stabbed me.”

 

“What?” Mal was up and by his side in a second.

 

“I’m fine. Arthur showed up out of nowhere and took me home and patched me up. But he apologized to me for ignoring me. And he said he was jealous and that he liked me. And then I kissed him.”

 

“You kissed him?” Ariadne spat out. Her expression almost made Eames laugh.

 

“Yeah, and then he pushed me away and I saw his real face.”

 

“Oh. I’m sorry Eames.”

 

“Eames.” Miles walked out and threw a book on the table. “Read that. Then let me know if you think you can’t kill him anymore.” Eames just looked down at the old book before looking back up at Miles.

 

“What is this?”

 

“It is Arthur’s history. I thought he sounded familiar. That is why I wanted to meet him.” Eames didn’t believe that. Miles had to have been blindsided by this as much as he was.

 

“Well, can’t you just tell me instead of me reading?” Miles gave a little grunt but Eames just pushed the book away.

 

“Fine. Arthur was turned during the Civil War. He lost his wife and family after he was turned. He killed them. He was ruthless and killed anyone who crossed his path.”

 

“Oh.” Well that really didn’t make Eames feel better. “How did he get involved with Cobol?”

 

“His sire brought him into their little following.”

 

“His sire?” Dom asked. Well, it was nice that Dom cared about what was going on.

 

“The vampire who turned him.” Eames answered. “Who sired him?”

 

“I believe some vampire named Nash.” Eames’ heart dropped. That was how Arthur and Nash had dated. Nash was the one who turned him. A sire bond was very strong. There is a connection there that nothing will break. They feel obligated to the vampire that sired them. It is a weird love thing that Eames couldn’t even begin to explain.

 

“Oh. Nash is in town as well. He must be the leader who wants to bring Cobol back.”

 

“You have to stop him Eames.” Miles stepped forward. “This is really important. You have to kill him and Arthur will try and stop you. But you can’t let this plan get any further. Cobol must be stopped!” Eames just ignored him.

 

“Finish the story. So, Arthur and Nash were in the group for Cobol, even though Cobol was gone?” Miles sighed.

 

“Yes. They helped get followers. Spread the fear about Cobol and killed anyone they wanted. They were prepping for his return. But then something happened.”

 

“What?”

 

“Arthur disappeared. He left the group during the depression. No one knew what happened to him. But he showed up here. I can only assume it has something to do with Cobol.” Eames just sighed.

 

“I will go and find out about Nash. See what’s up. And kill him if I have to. But I don’t know if I can kill Arthur.”

 

“Why not?” Miles seemed mad. “Eames, I don’t think you understand…”

 

“I understand Miles. But Arthur has never tried to hurt me, not once. I will not kill him unless he tries to kill me.” Eames didn’t say more on the subject, and didn’t let anyone else say anything either. He stood up and left the library, leaving it at that.

 

He can’t really be mad at Miles. Miles didn’t know of Eames’ feelings for Arthur. But still.

 

Eames knew he couldn’t kill Arthur unless he had motive to.

 

And right now, he had nothing.

 

Not even the fact that he was a vampire was enough to do it.

* * *

 

Eames really didn’t feel like patrolling tonight. He really hoped that Arthur didn’t show up. He wasn’t ready to face him yet. He wasn’t ready for the answers that were sure to come with seeing him again.

 

He just wanted to go home and sleep. Ariadne and Mal had been pestering him all day about Arthur and trying to make him feel better. Dom didn’t say anything. He was the smart one.

 

Eames didn’t want to be comforted. He just wanted to be left alone to deal with this problem himself. There was nothing that they could do about. There was nothing he could really do about it. He couldn’t change what Arthur was.

 

He stopped short when he heard a voice.

 

“Must I do everything myself?” Eames looked over when he recognized the voice. It was Nash.

 

He was walking out of the cemetery with another man. It was Saito. Interesting.

 

“What is it now?” Eames slowly followed, but only close enough so he could hear. He didn’t want them to know that he was following them.

 

“Arthur. He’s not having it.”

 

“What? Is he still moping about the slayer?”

 

“Yes. Pathetic really.” They stopped in front of an old building. “Go find the others. I have some things to get here.” Saito just nodded before walking away. Eames waited till Nash disappeared into the building before he went forward.

 

Miles wanted him to kill Nash. Might as well do it while he is alone.

 

Eames climbed the emergency ladder on the side of the building to the roof. There had to be a way to sneak in. As much as he loved being a little showy, waltzing in through the front door might not be the best idea. He wanted to have the upper hand this time.

 

Luckily there was a way in. Eames couldn’t really hear anything, so Nash was being very quiet. He was on a railing right now that overlooked the main area of the building.

 

“You should have just used the door. It would have saved you some time.” Eames froze. He peaked over the railing and saw Nash smirking up at him. Eames really didn’t see the appeal in him. But again, he wouldn’t judge Arthur. But seriously, Arthur had horrible taste in men. Although, Miles did say that Arthur was married once. Maybe he was still testing the waters. Regardless, Eames was a definite upgrade from that loser. “I am a vampire Eames, special senses.” Eames just chuckled as he made his way down to the main floor.

 

“Well, I wanted to savor this moment.”

 

“Savor the moment? Are you planning to kill me slayer? I don’t think you are in the condition to kill me.”

 

“I have killed under worse conditions. Believe me, it will be easy to kill someone like you.”

 

“And are you going to kill Arthur?” Eames froze. “It is your job, you know. To rid all the world of all vampires and all forms of evil.”

 

“You are staling, Nash.”

 

“And you are changing the subject.”

 

“It is my job to kill all the evil vampires. You know, the ones that try and destroy the world. Arthur has done nothing that would make me want to kill him yet.”

 

“But what about his past, slayer? You do know what Arthur was like before?” Before? What did that mean? Before what? Miles had mentioned that Arthur disappeared, but Nash was making it seem like he had changed.

 

“What do you mean before?”

 

“Arthur was the nastiest of the vampires. He was Cobol’s favorite. He would kill anyone, man, woman, child. Anyone who looked at him the wrong way didn’t live long. He even killed a few slayers in his day.”

 

“You are just saying that to get me mad. It isn’t going to work. I don’t have feelings for Arthur.”

 

“Don’t you?” Nash stepped forward. “I think you are lying.”

 

“Why do you care?”

 

“Arthur doesn’t have feelings for me anymore. He is all about you.”

 

“Well, it doesn’t seem to be in his character to love a slayer, with him killing a few already.” Nash just laughed.

 

“You really don’t know much about Arthur do you?”

 

“I am not here to talk about Arthur.”

 

“Right. But, before you attempt to kill me, you should know that Arthur isn’t like me.”

 

“I can see that.” Eames got a punch for that. But Eames retaliated by kicking Nash in the gut, sending him across the room. Nash hissed at him, revealing his true face.

 

“I merely meant that Arthur has a soul, unlike me.” Eames stopped. What? A soul? That didn’t make sense.

 

“Vampire can’t have souls.”

 

“Oh, well someone made sure they could. And Arthur does. He got cursed with his then left me and Cobol in the dust.”

 

“Well, that doesn’t sound much like a curse now that you put it that way.” Nash growled at him before running forward. Eames was prepared and ducked, sliding a foot out, causing Nash to trip.

 

“You son of a bitch.” Nash turned around so fast and threw Eames across the room into the opposite wall.

 

“Nash!” Eames stilled. He looked up and saw Arthur standing in the doorway, and he did not look happy at all. Nash turned around and laughed.

 

“Arthur, come to join to party?”

 

“What are you doing Nash?”

 

“He came to me, Arthur. But I was just in the middle of telling him all your dirty little secrets.” Eames pulled himself up and pulled his stake out. While Nash was distracted, he might as well use this opportunity to kill him. It was either now or never.

 

“You don’t have the right to talk about my life.” Eames ran forward and plunged the stake straight into Nash’s back, piercing his heart from behind. “No!” Arthur shouted, sounding angry. Eames took a step back as he saw Arthur run forward. Eames remembered about the sire bond. Arthur, no matter what, would always have feelings for Nash. Nash just looked over at Arthur and gave one last laugh before turning into ash right before his eyes.

 

Eames looked over at Arthur and saw that Arthur look angry. He was looking at Eames, vampire face on. He looked ready to attack. Eames put his stake back and made his way to the door, ignoring Arthur.

 

“You’re not going to kill me?” Eames stopped walking but didn’t turn around. He could tell by his voice that Arthur was back to his human face.

 

“Should I kill you?” Arthur didn’t say anything. “Until you give me a reason to kill you, you are safe. So you have nothing to worry about.”

 

“Eames, wait. I need to explain…”

 

“Don’t!” Eames turned and looked at him. “I need time away from you Arthur, to think about all this.”

 

“Eames…” But he didn’t answer. Eames just turned around and left the building.

 

Miles would be mad, but Eames needed to look into this. He needed to know what it truly meant if a vampire had a soul.

 

Then he can make the decision as to whether or not he should kill Arthur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have really been enjoying the feedback! I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! =)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Sorry for the long wait on a new chapter. I seriously lost track of time on when I last updated and had some unnecessary drama and yeah. But I finally got around to writing the new chapter and it is a long one! At least it is long to me.
> 
> So, enjoy! And thanks for reading and being patient with me. I really do appreciate it. =)

Eames let out a small sigh as he glanced around the cemetery. It was 9 o’clock on a Saturday night. He should be home studying for this huge English test he was supposed to have on Monday.

 

But no.

 

He was here because Miles insisted.

 

Tonight was the night of the full moon. He had gone out before sundown and walked around town and ended up here. And there was nothing. Not a peep.

 

They knew absolutely nothing about this so called werewolf. He, or she, could have left town by now. They had killed someone. It was more than likely that they skipped town in order to not be caught. That’s what Eames would have done if he was in that position.

 

But Miles didn’t believe that theory. Miles suspected that the wolf had come to town for a reason and would stay in town until said reason was completed. Hence why Eames was out here, Miles wanted to wolf caught and interrogated.

 

But he was bored to death right now. No one could come out with him. They were busy actually enjoying life. And even if they weren’t busy, he didn’t want them to risk their lives. He could be killed by this werewolf, but then another slayer would come in his place to take care of the problem. It was as simple as that.

 

But they were still humans. At least Eames had super strength on his side. And he didn’t want to be responsible for their deaths. He didn’t want that on his hands.

 

And Arthur was not going to come. Eames hadn’t spoken with him since the night he killed Nash. Eames still didn’t know what to think of all of it. He knew he should listen to Arthur and get his side of the story. Nash had been telling the truth that something was off with Arthur. And Arthur was the only one who could tell him what it was.

 

But he knew he would probably never see Arthur again. Eames had just killed Arthur’s other half. The man that made him who he is. If someone had done that to Eames, well, he would not be very forgiving.

 

So Arthur was going to be out of his life from now on.

 

Eames was about to go for another walk when he heard a scream. He bolted up and looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. He looked over and finally spotted the beast.

 

And well, it was not what he was expecting. Well, he really had no idea what to expect. Movies have given him an image but this was not it.

 

The beast was running on all fours, covered in fur, but he was still in clothes. His face wasn’t exactly wolf-like, like Eames could see how he would look like a human. But it still had wolf-like features. It was just, odd. Eames didn’t know how to describe it.

 

Eames snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of more screaming. Right, people in danger. He quickly ran after the beast. Thank goodness he was a fast runner, otherwise this would prove to be very impossible. He pulled out the small tranquilizer that Miles had given him. His job was to catch the werewolf, knock him out, and bring him to the library so they could discover who the wolf was. And have Miles interrogate him. Eames was sure that would go along splendidly.

 

Eames was in the process of running, and actually gaining in on the beast, when someone ran right into him. Almost knocked him down. If Eames didn’t have good reflexes, he would have fallen flat on his face. Eames looked over and gasped when he saw it was Arthur who had run into him.

 

“Arthur?”

 

“What are you doing?” Arthur asked. He sounded a little bit mad. But he didn’t have a reason to be mad at the moment, except for the obvious. But Arthur was the one that ran into him.

 

“Chasing the werewolf. What are you doing?”

 

“Oh, um, I thought well…” Eames rolled his eyes.

 

“Arthur, normally I would be overjoyed right now. But I really need to stop that werewolf right now.”

 

“Oh, right.” Eames nodded and took off running. But Arthur, well, Arthur ran up next to him.

 

“Now what are you doing?”

 

“Helping you.” Eames just watched as Arthur ran forward, ahead of him and just tackled the werewolf to the ground. Eames was just sort of in shock watching Arthur wrestle with the wolf. It was almost funny and maybe just a wee bit arousing. Eames really had a problem. “Eames!” Arthur shouted.

 

“Oh, right. Sorry.” Eames leapt forward, injecting the tranquilizer into the wolf’s back. The wolf fought for a few seconds but went limp soon after. Arthur let out a deep breath as he rolled off the wolf. Eames pulled himself up and actually smiled at the sight of Arthur.

 

His suit was all wrinkled and he was sure that there was even some dirt in his hair. He looked good all rumpled up.

 

“Way to lose your focus there.” Arthur hissed out, trying to fix out all the wrinkles in his suit.

 

“Sorry, got a bit distracted.” Eames looked around. Luckily they were alone in the middle of a park. All the bystanders had left and run off by now. The only problem now was how he was going to get this huge wolf back to the school. He didn’t have a car. And the school was quite a bit away, and it would look really weird if he was seen carrying this thing all over town. “Do you have a car?”

 

“Do I have a car?” Arthur stepped forward. “What kind of question is that?”

 

“It is an important question considering the fact that we have to transport this creature somewhere else.” Arthur just looked at him for a few seconds, realization hitting him.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah, so, do you have a car or not?”

 

“I do, but not here.”

 

“Well, can you go get it? Don’t you have super duper speed or something?” Arthur just glared at him before running off. At normal speed, Eames made sure to add.

 

Eames didn’t want to risk someone else finding them so he quickly dragged the body behind a tree, hiding it the best he could.

 

It was about 10 minutes later that Arthur pulled up in some type of mustang (Eames could really care less about cars), but, all of the windows were spray-painted black except for one small hole in front of the driver’s side.

 

“What the bloody hell is this?” Eames asked, looking from Arthur to the car and then back to Arthur again.

 

“This is my car.”

 

“Yeah, but why are the windows black?”

 

“To make sure the sun doesn’t touch me. Vampire, remember?” Eames just rolled his eyes.

 

“Haven’t you heard of tinted windows?”

 

“Doesn’t work. Believe me, I’ve tried. Do you think that I want to drive around with all my windows painted black looking like an ass?” Eames didn’t respond to that.

 

“Well, help me with this thing, will ya?” Arthur just nodded as he walked over to the wolf and helped Eames lift the body up and put it in the backseat of Arthur’s car.

 

“So, where exactly are we taking this thing?”

 

“Oh, um, the school. Miles said there is this cell thing in the basement under the library that would be perfect for putting a werewolf.”

 

“Perfect. How convenient of a high school to have a cage.” Eames didn’t answer. He didn’t feel like being funny with Arthur right now. Eames hopped into the car next to Arthur and he drove off towards the school.

 

It was one of the most awkward car rides Eames had ever experienced. He wanted to say something, but he really had no idea what to say. And it seemed like Arthur was having the same problem.

 

The only noise in the car was the wolf’s light snoring in the backseat. Who would have thought that he would be in a car with a vampire and a werewolf at the same time? It sounded like he was in a joke gone wrong.

 

Eames had really missed having Arthur in his life. Patrolling just wasn’t the same anymore. But what could Eames say to him? He shouldn’t have to apologize for doing his job. Nash would have killed him if he didn’t do it. Arthur should understand that, right?

 

But Eames felt like he needed to apologize to him, to let him know that he was sorry for hurting him like that.

 

They pulled up to the school and Arthur stopped the car.

 

“You have a key, don’t you?”

 

“Um….” Eames never thought about that. He should have called Miles or something while he was waiting for Arthur to come back with the car.

 

“Great.”

 

“I can just break in. I am amazing at picking locks.” Arthur looked over at him with an amused expression. “What? I am also amazing at forging, in case you ever need a fake ID or passport.” Arthur just laughed as Eames hopped out of the car. He grabbed his bag that he had almost forgotten about and ran up to the door.

 

After a few minutes of picking the lock, he got it open. He looked over at Arthur and smirked.

 

“See?”

 

“I never doubted your skills, Mr. Eames.”

 

“I could tell you didn’t believe me.”

 

“I am beginning to wonder how you actually got kicked out of London.” Eames gave him a playful shove before opening the back door of the car. The wolf was still knocked out but Eames really didn’t know for how much longer. Best not wait around to find out.

 

Eames pulled the wolf out and Arthur grabbed him by the feet and helped carry him to the basement, which was not the easiest thing to find. You would have thought that the basement to the school would have a ton of doors. Nope. Only one, and it was on the complete opposite side of the school. Eames really should have called Miles by now.

 

But once they found the right door, they found the cage and threw the wolf in it, locking the door behind him.

 

“So now what?” Arthur asked, fixing up his shirt that had gotten a bit wrinkled on the walk in, and making sure that his hair was gelled back in place.

 

“Well, I need to call Miles, but I guess I will stay here and make sure the wolf doesn’t get out and all that.”

 

“You need to sleep Eames.”

 

“I think I can sacrifice one night for this.”

 

“I will stay here and watch over the wolf. You go home and rest.”

 

“Arthur. Miles will throw a fit if he comes here and finds you here.”

 

“He still wants me dead?”

 

“Yes. He thinks you are evil. And since we haven’t really proven that false yet, he will try and kill you.” Arthur was silent for a bit. “I can stay, really, it is no big deal.”

 

“If you say so. Do you want some company though? I can stay till right before sunrise.” Eames wanted to say yes to this. He would have loved for Arthur to stay.

 

“I think you should go.” Arthur nodded and started to walk back towards the stairs. “Thank you Arthur. For helping me tonight. I really do appreciate it.”

 

“Anytime you need anything Eames, I am always here to help.” Eames just gave him a small nod before watching him disappear up the stairs.

 

Eames had a long night ahead of him. But he pulled out his phone and dialed Miles’ number. He might as well make it worth it and report his so called success with the wolf.

* * *

 

“Eames?” Eames heard his name off in the distance. “Eames?” Why was someone calling his name? “Eames!”

 

Eames jolted awake, falling off the chair he seemed to have fallen asleep in sometime in the night. He didn’t remember doing that. He remembered calling Miles and waiting for him to show up, but he guessed he must have dozed off before then.

 

So who was calling his name? Eames pulled himself off the floor and looked around. There was no one in the room. Did he imagine it or what?

 

“Eames?” He turned around saw none other than Yusuf, standing naked inside the cage. Wait a minute.

 

“You are the werewolf?” Eames stepped forward.

 

“Oh, um, yeah. I guess so.”

 

“You guess so?”

 

“Look, can I just have some clothes? Then I can explain everything.”

 

“Um. Oh, right. I, um, didn’t really think about that.” Eames ran a hand through his hair. He sort of forgot about the whole wolves being naked part.

 

“Luckily I did.” Eames turned around and saw Miles walking in with a small bag. “Here you go Yusuf.”

 

“Thanks man.” Miles opened the cage and handed Yusuf the clothes. Eames was just really confused. And he was tired. And his neck hurt. How could Yusuf be the werewolf? That was just odd.

 

“So, you are the werewolf?” Eames asked again, still trying to absorb the idea.

 

“Yeah.” Yusuf was fully dressed now and standing next to Eames. “I am thankful that you guys found me. I tried to tie myself up last night, but I guess it wasn’t strong enough.”

 

“Well Yusuf.” Miles walked over and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “You are welcome to stay here on the night of the full moon. We can get everything set up for you.” Wait. What happened to the interrogation? Wasn’t Miles the one who thought the wolf was evil? Eames’ head really hurt right now. This was too much.

 

“Thanks. I really would appreciate that.”

 

“Hey!” Ariadne shouted, rushing through the door, Mal and Dom behind her. “I got a text that said the wolf was caught?” Eames let out a small sigh.

 

“Yes. It is Yusuf.” Eames said.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Are you alright?” Mal asked, stepping forward and examining Yusuf as if he was an alien.

 

“Yeah. I, well, wait.” Yusuf then looked over at Eames. “How did you capture me? I should have ripped you to shreds.”

 

“Tranquilizer.”

 

“But, how? No one can get that close to me.”

 

“I had some help from a local vampire.” Yusuf’s eyes widened. “Yes, they exist, just like you do.”

 

“Then what are you?”

 

“I am the slayer. I kill all the bad things that people would rather not know about. And I occasionally save the world.”

 

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

 

“Because you aren’t evil.” Eames said, stepping forward. “You aren’t out to destroy the world. You killed one person, on accident. I know what it’s like to be cursed with something you don’t want. I want to help you.” Yusuf smiled.

 

“Thanks man.”

 

“Ariadne.” Miles spoke up. “Take Yusuf home, please. You can also discuss some things about that spell you were working on.”

 

“Oh. Right! Come on Yusuf!” Ariadne walked over, grabbed him by the hand, and pulled him out the door. Eames let out a small sigh. He did not envy that car ride home.

 

“I need to go home too.”

 

“Wait.” Mal walked forward. “Was Arthur here last night?”

 

“Um, yes.”

 

“I thought you were going to stay away from him.” Miles said, standing next to Mal. Great. This is just what he needed right now, a father daughter interrogation.

 

“I was.” Eames took a step back. “He showed up while I was chasing Yusuf. And he proved to be a lot of help. He helped me bring him here and then he left. End of story.”

 

“You can’t just invite him into the school!” Dom shouted. “What if he kills us all?”

 

“Dom.” Eames loved Dom, he really did, but sometimes, he just needed to keep his mouth shut. “Schools are public. They don’t need an invitation to get in.”

 

“Speaking of which.” Miles said, walking away. “I had Ariadne look into a spell. She thinks she can put up the barrier again, so Arthur can’t get into your house.”

 

“Oh. Well, thanks. But, I don’t think I need it.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“He hasn’t tried to come over since then. I really don’t think Arthur is a bad guy. So, let’s just drop it, okay. I can take care of myself.” Eames picked up his bag and stalked out of the room.

 

He just needed to get some sleep. That was all he really wanted. He could deal with all of them and their problems with Arthur later.

* * *

 

When Eames walked through the front door his mum was on him in a second.

 

“Where have you been?”

 

Oh, shit.

 

He forgot to call his mom last night and tell her he wasn’t coming home. Well, today just keeps getting better and better.

 

“Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?”

 

“I’m sorry mum…”

 

“You’re sorry? Well, it’s good to know that you are sorry for making me panic. I almost called the police and had you declared as a missing person!”

 

“I went to hang out with Dom and forgot about the time and just slept over. I’m sorry I forgot to call. It won’t happen again.”

 

“You’re damn right it won’t happen again because you are grounded mister.”

 

“What?” Eames’ mouth actually dropped open. He cannot be grounded. He had a world to save.

 

“To your room right now.” Eames gave out a long sigh and went up to his room. There was really no point in arguing with her. She was almost as stubborn as he was.

 

Well, at least he got to catch up on his sleep now.

 

He slept for most of the day. He got up a few times to finish homework and go to the bathroom. And his mum brought him up some food for lunch and supper, not saying anything to him, which sucked. He needed to know what he could and could not do while be grounded. Right now it was just being stuck in his room.

 

When nightfall fell, Miles called and asked if he was patrolling tonight and Eames told him the news that he was grounded. Miles was not too happy about it but there was nothing Eames could do. Miles sent out Mal and Dom to patrol instead.

 

Eames was about to get ready for bed when he heard a noise. It sounded like someone was knocking on the window. But no one could be at his window. He had a room that was upstairs. He ignored it and continued getting ready for bed when he heard it again.

 

“Okay.” Eames walked over to the window, opened the blinds and about had a heart attack. Arthur there, crouching on the roof, looking at him through the window. Eames almost laughed because it was funny seeing Arthur in his little fancy outfit, crouching down trying not to be seen, in front of his window.

 

Eames knelt down and opened the window.

 

“Arthur. What are you doing at my window?”

 

“I need to talk to you.” Arthur didn’t even bother asking to come in. He bolted through the window and stood up, fixing his suit back to the way it was supposed to be.

 

“Well, do come in.” Eames shut the window and stood back up.

 

“I’m sorry, but I wanted to make sure no one saw me. Why aren’t you out patrolling? I went to find you but all I found was your friends have an intense make-out session in the cemetery.” Eames rolled his eyes. He would really need to talk to Miles about sending those two out together. He was positive they got nothing done.

 

“I’m grounded.”

 

“Grounded?”

 

“Yeah. I didn’t come home last night and forgot to tell my mum. So, yeah, I’m grounded.”

 

“Oh.” Arthur was silent for a bit and Eames just felt awkward. Arthur was in his bedroom. Normally, this would be a good thing. He had dreams about this moment. But this was not what he wanted. This was not how everything happened. He wasn’t prepared tonight. His room was a mess. He hadn’t done laundry in who knows how long. Nothing was organized. His bed was unmade.

 

And Arthur was looking around noticing everything. Eames wanted to die right now.

 

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Eames asked, trying to get Arthur out of his messy room as soon as possible.

 

“Oh. Right. How did your werewolf get along this morning?”

 

“Oh. Good. His name is Yusuf. He actually goes to school with me. I met him once. He seems pretty nice. We are going to help him out with everything.”

 

“That’s good.” And another awkward silence. Seriously?

 

“Look Arthur, my mum is just downstairs and….”

 

“I need to talk to you, about me.” Arthur interrupted.

 

“Oh.” Eames sat down on the bed as Arthur paced back in forth, trying to think of what to say. Eames just waited patiently for Arthur to be ready.

 

“Okay, well, um, I had a family before. A wife, and two children. We lived in Atlanta.”

 

“That’s nice.” Eames was really beginning to wonder how old Arthur was when he died. If he had been married and had children. He must have been at least in his late twenties.  Eames really had problems with liking older men.

 

“I wasn’t happy. In fact, I was just miserable. The Civil War was happening and I wanted to enlist, but they wouldn’t accept me. I got sick all the time and the thought of blood and everything, it just wasn’t good. My wife hated me. She thought I was a coward.”

 

“And your kids?”

 

“They didn’t know what to think. They were too young. But my wife, Charlotte, she and I got into fights all the time which caused me to leave home and drink away my sorrows. I hated everything and I just wanted to go fight and to die an honorable death. Is that really too much to ask for?” Eames didn’t say anything. It didn’t really feel appropriate. “And then I met him.” Eames knew who he was.

 

“Nash.”

 

“Yes. Nash was charming and intelligent and told me he could show me places I have never even imagined. He seduced me with all these ideas and I fell for him. Hard.”

 

“Did he turn you quickly?”

 

“No. I had no idea what he was for a good few months. We had a brief affair. I think he had a plan and was just waiting for it to happen. And it did. Charlotte found out. She caught us together.”

 

“Oh.” That must have been awkward.

 

“Yeah. She was not happy. She threatened to tell the city about how wrong I was so that I would be sent to jail or even killed. I panicked and ran away. Nash was there, of course. And then he turned me. Promised that he could give me anything I wanted. That I could have anything I wanted. To not be a coward anymore. And I accepted his offer.”

 

“Miles said you killed your family.”

 

“I did. I was so angry after I turned. I went back to the house and killed my wife. Tortured her then fed on her till she only had a little bit of blood left in her body. It was just enough for her to know that she was going to die.”

 

“And your children?” Arthur took a deep breath and looked away.

 

“I was so mad Eames. Nash had poisoned my mind. I killed them quickly while they were sleeping. Burned the house down and fled with Nash.” Eames was silent for a bit, letting everything sink in. Arthur just looked distraught.

 

“What about Cobol?” Eames asked quietly.

 

“Nash told me all about him, but I never really met him. Only Nash really had contact with him. We went on killing sprees, making this army that Cobol wanted. I did everything Nash wanted me to. I loved him. And I truly believed that he loved me too.”

 

“What changed?”

 

“He sired someone new. You know him, Saito.”

 

“Saito?” Well, that was something. Eames would have never guessed that Saito was sired by Nash.

 

“Yes. They did everything together. Saito was the new me and I was, to say the least, very jealous.” Arthur took a deep breath. “It was the 20’s, we were in New Orleans for the summer, everything was going great, but I wanted to prove myself to Nash that I was still the best. That I was better than Saito ever would be. So I made a plan. I was going to attack this party and show him that people still knew how to fear. That I was someone to be feared.”

 

“What type of party was it?”

 

“The wrong type of party. I went in there, and killed every single woman that was there. But, one of the women I killed had a grandmother who was very skilled in witchcraft and voodoo and all that stuff that I knew nothing about. She tracked me down and cursed me.”

 

“Cursed you?”

 

“Yes. Gave me a soul.” Eames’ eyes widened. That was what Nash meant when he said Arthur had changed. “Vampires, when they are created, they lose their soul. Their humanity. They become blood thirsty animals. But when given their soul back, their humanity comes back as well.”

 

“But what does that mean exactly?”

 

“Guilt, Eames. I felt guilt for everything that I had done. Every night I would lay awake in agony because all I could see was all the people I killed. They were in my mind, tormenting me. Charlotte and my children were the worse. They are still with me, to this day. I can’t get them out.”

 

“So you ran away?”

 

“I ran away when the stock market crashed. I hid and disappeared. I laid low and tried to fight the cravings to kill people. It is hard, but I found ways to get by. I was mostly in Europe. I spent a lot of time in Paris just enjoying myself. But Nash found me. I told him about the curse. He wanted to break it. But I told him the only way to break it was for me to experience a moment of true happiness.”

 

“A moment of true happiness?”

 

“Yeah. Nash gave up quickly. But before he left, he told me about Cobol coming back. That the time had finally come. So, I came here, to help the slayer in any way possible.” Eames was silent for a bit.

 

“Um. This is a lot to take in Arthur.”

 

“I know. I just. I wanted you to know the truth about me.”

 

“I appreciate it. I really do. And I am sorry for having to kill Nash. I know that you guys have this sort of bond and I broke that. I can’t imagine what you are going through.”

 

“I am not mad about you killing Nash.”

 

“Oh.” Eames gave him a small smile. Arthur smiled back. It was nice. It was like everything had just been wiped clean.  “I still need time to think about all of this, though.” Eames needed to make sure that he talked with Miles and told him the truth. That Arthur is someone to be trusted.

 

“Okay. I just…” Arthur looked nervous. Eames was about to speak when Arthur stepped forward and pulled Eames up into a quick kiss. Eames didn’t really know what to do but his body did.

 

He wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. He heard Arthur give out a little growl as he shoved Eames down on the bed. Arthur’s hand swept under Eames’ shirt, touching the skin right above his jeans and Eames let out a little moan. He didn’t really know if it was from the coldness of Arthur’s fingers or just the movement itself.

 

But whatever it was, it felt amazing. Arthur tasted just like he did the last time and he smelt even better. Eames ran his fingers through Arthur’s hair and just, it was like stimulation overload.

 

Arthur was kissing his way down Eames’ neck when his mum had to ruin everything.

 

“Eames!” Eames’ still and Arthur freaked out, biting down on Eames’ neck. Eames let out a small hiss and Arthur was off him in a second. “Eames! Come down here please!” Eames let out a little sigh as he put a hand to his neck. Arthur was breathing hard and Eames smiled at how rumpled he looked. Arthur looked up at him and licked his lips. Arthur’s face changed and Eames took a step back. Arthur took a step forward but immediately stopped himself.

 

“I need to go.” Arthur breathed out, changing back to his normal face.

 

“Yes.” Eames stood up and wiped the blood off his neck. Luckily the bite was more of a small scrape and not a full on bite. Eames had no idea how he would have explained that one.

 

Once he was sure that all the blood was gone, he walked up to Arthur, and straightened out his tie and jacket.

 

“I will see you tomorrow?” Arthur just nodded. “Alright.” Eames gave him one last kiss before opening the window. Arthur gave him one last look before jumping out into the darkness.

 

“Eames!”

 

“Coming mum!” Eames did one quick look over in the mirror to make sure he didn’t look like he had just made out with vampire. He didn’t need his mom asking questions. When he was in the clear he made his way downstairs to see just how grounded he really was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I am thinking about adding Robert into this next chapter, as long as I remember. I still don't know exactly what I am doing with him yet. But he shall be here.
> 
> I also really have no idea where this story is going. I have small ideas, I just don't know if I really want to go there and all that. I wouldn't mind getting some ideas if you guys have some. ;)


	6. Chapter 6

Eames sat on his bed waiting. It was about 10:30, which meant that his mum was just about ready to go to bed.

 

Eames had been grounded for a month. That was his punishment for not coming home one night. A little harsh, but he could deal with it. Well, he could have, if the end of the world wasn’t approaching any day now.

 

So, Eames was now resorted to sneaking out of his house after his mom went to bed in order to patrol. It was risky, but Miles assured him it was worth it.

 

Give it to Miles to want him to disobey his mum. Miles didn’t have to live with her if she caught him sneaking out.

 

Eames stood up and snuck up to the door, listening to the footsteps of his mom going to her room. He waited ten minutes after that before going to the window and crawling out.

 

He was climbing down the siding when he heard something.

 

“Eames? What the hell are you doing?” Eames freaked out and let go of the siding, falling right on his back.

 

“Ow.” Eames looked up and saw Arthur staring down at him. Eames had not seen Arthur for a few days. Ever since the kiss. And really, Arthur was not the person he wanted to see after falling off his house.

 

“What’re you doing?”

 

“I’m grounded for a month so in order to patrol, I have to sneak out.”

 

“Aren’t there easier ways of doing this? Like maybe using the front door?”

 

“Maybe.” Arthur stuck out his hand and helped Eames up. Not Eames’ best move, but, hey, Arthur didn’t seem to mind his clumsiness.

 

“So, how have you been?” Arthur asked as they made their way to the cemetery. So it was going to be like nothing happened. Perfect.

 

“Good, besides being grounded and all. Ariadne may have found a spell for Yusuf on the full moon. It helps make him more subdued during the change and all that.”

 

“Interesting. And Cobol?”

 

“Nothing new there. Although Miles has been doing some major research lately so I’m sure he will come up with something soon.”

 

“Look, Eames, um, about the other night.” So it seemed Arthur was going to bring it up. It was probably the only reason he was here.

 

“What about it?” Eames needed to play it cool and remain calm about this. He didn’t even really know what Arthur was going to say.

 

“I shouldn’t have kissed you.” Eames stopped walking.

 

“Why not? I really enjoyed it.” And boy was that the truth. Eames had been dreaming about that nonstop the past few days.

 

“And so did I, but, I just, a slayer and a vampire? It is not going to work out well in the end.”

 

“I’m not asking for marriage, Arthur. I like you. Can’t we just see where this takes us?” Arthur was about to speak when they heard a yell.

 

“Help!” Eames was in motion faster than he could he really process that someone needed help. It was weird how good his slayer instincts are. Eames ran into the cemetery, with Arthur right behind him.

 

“It’s Saito!” Arthur shouted. Eames ran faster. As he approached a small clearing he saw Saito and a group of his men surrounding a young man. As Eames got closer he saw that the man was Robert Fischer.

 

He was the richest boy at school but he was sort of a loner. He didn’t talk to anyone and no one made the effort to talk to him.

 

What could they possibly want with him?

 

Eames didn’t think too hard on the matter. He ran up and tackled one of Saito’s minions to the ground, driving a stake in his heart. Saito turned over and smiled.

 

“Well well well. If it isn’t the slayer. And Arthur, well, that is a surprise.” Eames stood up as Arthur stopped next to him. “I thought you would be seeking revenge for Nash’s death.”

 

“I got over him a long time ago.” Arthur replied.

 

“Cobol is not very happy about this. Not happy at all. Nash was the key to everything and now he is gone.”

 

“Do I look like I care?” Eames almost wanted to laugh. Arthur sounding annoyed to Saito was quite amusing, especially when Eames knew their backstory. Eames could bet that Arthur wanted Saito dead more than anything.

 

“Cobol will rise and even you know what that entails Arthur. You, nor your little pet slayer will be able to stop it.” Eames took a step forward. Saito just laughed and he backed away. “It is only a matter of time.” Arthur let out a small sigh as Eames turned towards where Fischer was on the ground.

 

“You okay?” He asked, helping him up.

 

“Yeah.” Robert gave Eames a smile. “How did you do that? You….you turned that guy into dust.”

 

“Oh, well, that guy was a vampire. Stake a vampire through the heart and they turn to dust.”

 

“And you do that often?” Robert moved a bit closer and Eames felt a bit uncomfortable.

 

“It is sort of my job.”

 

“Wow. Does, like everyone know about this but me?”

 

“No. Well, my friends know. But no one else can know, got it.”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Alright, well, you should go home before something else comes out.” Robert gave Eames one last smile before running off. When Robert was out of view, Arthur let out a small chuckle. “What’s your problem?”

 

“That kid totally wants to fuck you.”

 

“What?”

 

“It was radiating off him. He was so into you. I’m surprised he didn’t jump you right now.”

 

“I have never spoken to Robert once before tonight. I doubt he would want to jump me.”

 

“Well, you did just save his life. He wanted to repay you, I could sense it.”

 

“Well I think you have issues.” Arthur turned and glared at him. Eames studied him for a bit. Arthur didn’t sound like he was really joking. He sounded mad and almost upset. “Wait. Are you jealous?”

 

“No. Why would I be jealous of some stupid human kid?”

 

“Because you think I would actually shag him.”

 

“Why would I care who you sleep with?”

 

“Arthur…”

 

“I have to go.” And Arthur was gone before Eames could say anymore. Eames let out a small laugh. Arthur was totally jealous. Which meant that he did want to be with Eames.

 

If only Arthur knew that he had nothing to worry about.

 

Eames wasn’t planning on dating anyone else.

* * *

 

When Eames walked into school the next day, he was met by Robert, who seemed to have been waiting all morning for him to arrive.

“Hey Eames.” Robert said, walking in step with him, smiling at him every so often. It was really kind of creepy. Robert never talked to anyone, and now, here he was, talking to Eames like they have been friends forever.

 

“Hi Robert.” Eames walked up to his locker hoping Robert would take the hint that he didn’t really want to talk, but Robert never left his side. Well, Arthur sure was right about Robert being infatuated. “Can I help you with something?”

 

“Well, um, I was wondering, in order to pay you back for saving my life, that maybe I could buy you dinner or something.” Eames tried not to let his jaw drop. Eames really couldn’t believe that he really just asked him out like that.

 

“You don’t owe me anything, Robert. This is my job. You are not the first person who I saved.”

 

“But I want to.” Robert reached up and grabbed his arm. “Please. I insist.” Eames didn’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings, but he didn’t want to go on a date with the guy.

 

Wait. He was still grounded. Yes, finally. Him being grounded has finally come in handy.

 

“Alright. You can buy me some tea or something. I am sort of grounded at the moment so I can’t do much.”

 

“Oh, I can deal with that.” Eames didn’t get to say anything else because Robert was down the hallway before Eames could process the fact that Robert said he would deal with him being grounded. What did that mean anyways? How could Robert possibly deal with him being grounded?

 

Eames didn’t hear much from Robert for the rest of the morning, and for that he was really thankful.

 

At lunch, Eames sat down next to Ariadne, who was deep in conversation with Yusuf (Eames had a slight suspicion that Yusuf and Ariadne were now a couple, but they hadn’t really said anything yet), and Mal. Mal was in the process of explaining to Dom that they were going to Paris that summer for vacation. Dom wasn’t too keen on it. He had a thing with flying or something like that.

 

“So, I heard that you are going on a date with Robert Fischer.” Mal said, turning around to face Eames fully. Eames about choked on his drink.

 

“Um, what?”

 

“Yeah, he told me in Trig.” Since when does Robert talk to Mal?

 

“Um, first of all, it is not a date.” He really had to make that clear. He was not dating anyone, and even if he was, it wouldn’t be Robert Fischer. Nothing against him, because he was really good looking, he just only had eyes for Arthur.

 

“But it is something.”

 

“I told him he could buy me tea or something along those lines.” Mal smirked.

 

“Why would he have to do that?” Mal scooted even closer to him.

 

“He didn’t have to. I didn’t want him to but he feels obligated.”

 

“Why would he feel obligated?”

 

“What is this? 20 questions or something? Jesus.” Eames shoved his food away. He wasn’t hungry anymore.

 

“I was just curious. Robert Fischer never talks to anyone. I wondered what made you so special to him.”

 

“I saved his life last night, on patrol. That’s it.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Did I miss something?” Ariadne turned around, looking between him and Mal.

 

“No. Nothing important.” Mal replied, smiling at Eames.  Eames gave her a small smile before pulling his food tray back in front of him. He really hoped this whole Fischer thing didn’t get out of proportion.

 

But of course, it only got worse.

 

When Eames came home, his mum was waiting for him.

 

“William.”

 

“What? I didn’t do anything I swear.” She just laughed at him. That didn’t really make him feel any better.

 

“I just got off the phone with a Robert Fischer.” Eames’ body went tense. Was she being serious right now? “What a charming young man he is. Told me a very interesting story about how you helped him out with an assignment or something like that.” Eames couldn’t speak right now.

 

So this was what Robert meant when he said he would handle him being grounded. Really? Call his mother? Eames was going to have some serious words with Robert when he saw him next.

 

“It was really nothing mum.”

 

“Nonsense! Robert said he wanted to take you out to show how thankful he was for it.”

 

“Yeah, mum, but I’m grounded, remember. So I can’t. I told him that.”

 

“I know. Now, normally I wouldn’t do this, but since you were so nice about it all and tried not to defy me about your grounding, I decided to undo your grounding for tonight only.” Eames’ gut fell down to his feet.  “Robert said he will be by to pick you up at seven.”

 

“What? Are you serious?”

 

“Yes. He seemed quite infatuated with you, so I couldn’t put a stop to young love.”

 

“Well thanks mum. You just made things so much worse.” Her face dropped.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“I don’t like Robert like that. I don’t want to be paid back for what I did. I did something nice because I could. I don’t want anything out of it. I really don’t want to go out with him.”

 

“Oh sweetie, I’m sorry. But you are still going. Robert seems like a nice boy.” And with that, she walked away. Eames let out a small sigh.

 

Perfect, just fucking perfect.

* * *

 

Eames didn’t really put much effort into his outfit for the so called ‘date.’ He put on a nicer top because his mum made him. He had walked down in jeans and a t-shirt and his mom sent up right back upstairs. It was ridiculous. He would be giving Robert the wrong idea.

 

Robert was at his house right on schedule. Eames answered, shouted goodbye to his mom and left in a hurry. He didn’t want his mom to draw this whole thing out. It had already been drawn out much further than it should have been.

 

In the car, Robert was blabbing away about his father and how much he hated him and how much effort it took him to get the car for tonight. Eames just banged his head against the window.

 

Robert was completely different than Katie. He could handle the date with Katie because it was his plan. He had been in control of it. But this, this was just different. He was not in control. He had no idea what was going on.

 

And to make matters worse, he actually almost had Arthur. If Arthur found out about this, he would not be a happy vampire. It would set Eames way back again. He had worked so hard to be where he was with Arthur and Robert was going to mess everything up.

 

Robert ended up taking him to the Bronze. How predictable.

 

Eames really hoped that there was no one here that he really knew. Of course, there was bound to be one person from school here that would tell everyone that he and Robert went on a date and then the whole school would know and it just wouldn’t end well.

 

“Come on.” Robert said, pulling him along to a table that was near the back. Thankfully it seemed that Robert wanted the privacy as well. Finally one thing they had in common.

 

Eames sat down and continued looking around. He was still making sure he didn’t see anyone here. God, if Ariadne was here he would never hear the end of it.

 

“Look, I know you didn’t want to come tonight.” Eames looked back at him. Robert looked a little hurt and now he felt like a huge asshole.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to be that obvious.”

 

“I didn’t want this to be a date. I just, I am awkward with people, you know?” Eames just looked at him. Robert didn’t want this to be a date?  Where had he missed that?

 

“Um…”

 

“I just wanted a friend. I have never had any friends. My father made sure of that when I was younger. No one was good enough for us since we were rich and all that.”

 

“I see.”

 

“And you seem like a nice guy. I know you are friends with Mal. I talk to her every so often in class. And you saved my life. I am really thankful for that.”

 

“What were you doing out by yourself anyways?”

 

“I was bored.” Eames laughed.

 

“You were bored so you went for a walk through a cemetery. Sounds like my life.”

 

“Well, I went to the park first and cut through the cemetery.”

 

“I see.” Eames just smiled at him. He had really gotten Robert wrong. Maybe being his friend wouldn’t be too bad. He seemed like a nice guy, a little awkward at times, but still nice. “Oh, and, remember, you can’t really tell anyone about me, or, well, my so called job. No one is supposed to know. That is what keeps people safe.”

 

“Oh, your secret is safe with me. I don’t think anyone would actually believe me anyways if I told them there were vampires in town.” Eames just smiled.

 

“Yeah, I didn’t really believe it either, yet here I am.”

 

“Eames?” Eames froze.

 

No.

 

He did not have luck this bad, did he?

 

He looked over and saw Arthur a few feet away from the table. He looked amazing, well, he was dressed amazing. His face was something different. He looked hurt, but that quickly changed to being angry.

 

“Arthur.” Eames stood up but Arthur just walked away. Well shit. Eames turned to Robert. “I need to go talk to him.”

 

“Go on.” Robert smiled and Eames made a mental note to thank Robert later for being so understanding about it.

 

Eames ran outside and saw Arthur stalking away. And yes, he was stalking. Eames ran up and grabbed Arthur by the arm.

 

“Arthur, look, it wasn’t what you thought…” Arthur turned around, gripped Eames by the arm and threw him into the nearest wall.

 

“Oh really?” Arthur hissed. “Please, explain how I am in the wrong here.”

 

“You always assume the worse in me Arthur. I told you that you had nothing to worry about with me. Robert wanted to take me out, as a friend, to pay me back for saving his life. I didn’t want to come but he called my mum. I had to.” Arthur backed away.

 

“I can’t help it that I assume the worse when it comes to you. It would make sense for you to be with another human.”

 

“Well, I am not gonna date anyone else since I sort of love you.” Eames closed his eyes and mentally kicked himself. Why did he just say that? Arthur looked up at him.

 

“What did you just say?”

 

“Nothing, I said nothing.” Arthur stepped forward.

 

“Did you say you loved me?” Eames looked down.

 

“Maybe.”

 

“You can’t love me Eames. I am dead. There is nothing in me to love. All I will bring you in pain and suffering.”

 

“I don’t care.”

 

“You will care. You will care when you have grown old and I still look like this.”

 

“Do you think my life will be easy anyways? How can I even consider having a real life? Something bad thinks about destroying the world every day? I can’t have anyone close to me because they might die. Why can’t I enjoy something that I want for once?”

 

“I can’t do this to you Eames. I just can’t.”

 

“Look, I already told you that I’m not looking for marriage. I know that there is no real future for us. But why can’t we just live in the now. Just do what we want.” Eames took a deep breath. “Don’t you want me too?” Arthur looked down and was silent.

 

“No. I don’t want you Eames.” Eames’ heart dropped in his chest.

 

“Oh.” Eames pulled himself straight. He would not cry in front of Arthur. He couldn’t. “Well, I better get back to Robert.” Arthur didn’t say anything as Eames walked away.

 

Eames didn’t really expect him to anyways. In fact, Eames was sure Arthur was gone the minute he turned around.

* * *

 

Eames didn’t sleep at all that night.

 

All he could think about was how Arthur had rejected him. After everything, he had just flat out just rejected him like it was the easiest thing in the world. Everything had been for nothing.

 

So when Eames walked into the library the next morning, seeing everyone looking at him with sad faces, he knew something was not right.

 

“What?”

 

“Please sit down, Eames.” Miles walked up to him, but didn’t exactly look at him.

 

“I think I would rather stand, if you don’t mind.”

 

“Alright. Well, as you know, I have been doing some research on Cobol, to try and figure out if there was information on how he would rise.” Eames nodded. “Well, I found out how he plans to rise. There are some sacrificial things that have probably already occurred and there is no way to knowing how many they have done. But he needs 100 sacrifices. But they have to be on the certain nights. So, most likely, Nash has been doing these throughout the years. I am guessing Saito has taken over since Nash’s death.”

 

“Okay, so, I just need to kill his henchmen and then things will be alright.”

 

“Well, yes, but there is always the chance that new ones will rise and follow in their footsteps. It seems that regardless of what we do, Cobol will rise sometime. It really is just a matter of when.”

 

“So, I can’t stop it?”

 

“Well, you see, after the 100th sacrifice, in order for Cobol to have his power back 100%, he has to feed off the slayer.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“It is said that the slayer will go to him, willingly, when the time comes. There is no stopping it.”

 

“What? Like it is a fucking prophecy?”

 

“Eames…” Mal was crying. Of course, she could have been crying before that little bombshell.

 

“So, I’m going to die.”

 

“Unless we can find out how many of the sacrifices they have done. I honestly don’t know. Everything was rather cryptic.”

 

“No, thanks but, just, how am I supposed to react to this Miles? I am going to die at 17? I haven’t even lived yet!”

 

“Eames, this isn’t set in stone. Slayers have always messed with fate. I can’t tell you how many have been prophesized to die and didn’t.”

 

“Yeah, but it comes back and bites them in the ass later on.”

 

“I can try and figure out a spell. Maybe we can lock Cobol up again, put something new on him.”

 

“I will try and get a more accurate account on all this.” Miles was trying to be helpful. He knew all of them were just trying to help, but he knew that they were close with bringing Cobol back. Saito knew this. He had told them the other night. It was only a matter of time.

 

“Well, I’m gonna go and think about my impending death.”

 

“Eames…” Miles took another step towards him.

 

“Don’t. Look, I’m not gonna patrol tonight. I just need some time to myself, okay.” He turned and left the library without another word. He didn’t even go to class, he just walked right out of the school and went home. He texted his mum and told her he was taking a sick day and left it at that.

 

He spent the entire day in bed.

* * *

 

Eames’ mum thought he had food poisoning and almost called Robert to yell at him for making Eames sick, but Eames assured her that it was just a mental matter. She let him rest after that. He knew she would talk to him about it later, but right now, she knew that he needed rest.

 

Eames couldn’t sleep though. All he could think about that if he died, his mum would be so upset over it and probably move away. But would anyone else really be upset?

 

His friends would be, of course. And Miles. But would the rest of the school? He would probably just get one page in the yearbook and everyone would say how he was such a nice guy even though they hadn’t even said one word to him.

 

And what about Arthur?

 

Arthur probably wouldn’t even come to his funeral. He would probably be happy to not have some teenager making lovey eyes at him all the time.

 

And then what about Cobol? He would rule the world so maybe it would be better that Eames wouldn’t be there. It would be the next slayer’s job.

 

_Clink._

 

Eames turned around at the noise. Someone was at his window. He looked closer and saw that it was Arthur. What was he doing here? Wait, Eames didn’t care what Arthur wanted. He never wanted to see Arthur again. Eames just flipped him off and rolled back over. Arthur would take the hint and leave him alone.

 

“Eames.” Eames jumped up so fast he could have swore that he was superman for a moment, and found Arthur kneeling on his bed.

 

“What the fuck? How did you get in here?”

 

“I snuck in. Your mom is passed out on the couch. It wasn’t very hard to do actually. And it is a lot easier than the window.”

 

“Well get out. I don’t want to talk to you.”

 

“Eames, I need to talk to you.”

 

“Well I don’t want to talk to you. So get out.” Eames fell back down on his bed and wrapped the blanket around him, making a small cocoon.

 

“I’m sorry for what I said last night. I didn’t mean it the way you took it.”

 

“Oh really? There really isn’t room for misinterpretation in what you said.”

 

“I want you Eames. I do. I have never wanted anyone as much as I want you.” Eames sat up again. Arthur couldn’t be serious. He had that whole bond thing with Nash. That was the most powerful bond ever.

 

“Then why did you lie to me?”

 

“I wanted to protect you.” Eames laughed at that.

 

“Well you are the first, let me tell you.”

 

“What’s wrong? You seem off.”

 

“Apparently I am destined to die by Cobol.”

 

“What?”

 

“Yeah. In order for him to gain full power, after the 100 sacrifices or whatever, I will go willingly to where he is and he will kill me. My future is very bright indeed.”

 

“It may be a different slayer. That doesn’t mean that it is you.”

 

“How many sacrifices has Nash done? Do you know?”

 

“No.”

 

“Well, there you have it.”

 

“Eames.”

 

“I just want to contemplate things in peace. Okay? So, let yourself out.”

 

“Eames.”

 

“What?” Eames turned over and glared at Arthur.

 

“I can’t make you any promises of forever. But, we can try something, if you want.”

 

“What exactly are you saying?”

 

“I love you Eames.” Arthur smiled. “And if you are so hell-bent on this prophecy being true, I might as well give you what you want, correct?” Eames smiled. This was not how he really wanted things to go, but hey, he will take what he can get.

 

“Why not?” Arthur laughed and leaned forward, pressing his lips to his in a soft kiss. Eames pulled away reluctantly. He knew his mom would probably wake up soon to come and check on him. “You should go.”

 

“Get some sleep Eames. You need it.” Eames just laughed as Arthur snuck back out of the house. Eames just rolled over, smile glued to his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are so lucky, I was actually thinking about ending the chapter when Arthur rejected him, but I changed my mind and decided to be a bit nicer.
> 
> Also, thanks again for reading this and showing your interest! I really do appreciate it!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> So I know it's been a while and I'm sorry. My motivation lately has been very low lately but I finally got another chapter done, so yay!
> 
> Anyways, I sorta don't know where I am going to go with this story, I'm pretty sure I say that with every update, but right now, I really don't know.
> 
> But I am going on vacation soon, so maybe I can try and come up with a plan and a direction for this thing.

Eames sat in the library with Yusuf. He had a huge test coming up in his Chemistry class and he really needed help. He had persuaded his mum to let him stay after school to study with Yusuf instead of coming straight home, like he had to do now. She had agreed, but only if she could call every half hour and speak with Yusuf, to make sure he was still with him. Her trust in him was disappearing more and more every day.

 

It was a bit frustrating, but Eames had to do what he had to do. Eames was starting to suspect that his mum knew about him sneaking out, and that she was waiting for him to tell her. Well that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, so he will just have to suffer through it.

 

Of course, their studying was interrupted also, by Miles. Which Eames should have known would happen since they were in Miles territory. But Miles was just spitting out theories every so often that were supposed to make Eames feel better about dying, he was sure of it.

 

It didn’t really work, but…at least it made Miles happier.

 

Mal and Ariadne tried to make him feel better too. They wanted him to come over all the time and just see him and hang out with him. His mum was okay with that, strange enough. And Eames humored them, coming over every so often just to make them feel better. But it really did nothing for him. He didn’t want their pity.

 

If only his mum was okay with Arthur coming over, that would make things a hundred times better. Of course, she didn’t really know about Arthur, so that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

 

Eames saw Arthur pretty much every night anyways. Arthur would come and get him for patrol, and then he would bring him back and stay with him for a few hours and then leave. Usually Eames was asleep by the time he left, so he wasn’t really for sure on what time Arthur actually left his house.

 

Eames was trying to take things slow with Arthur. He really had no idea how vampires actually have relationships and whatnot. He was still new at this as well. He had never had an actual relationship before. He had never felt this way before with anyone. Arthur was different. And he didn’t want to fuck things up before they really even started. He did enough of that already.

 

And Arthur seemed content with taking things slow. He didn’t push Eames to do something he didn’t want to. All they did was make-out, which was good enough for Eames at the moment. Arthur was a very skilled kisser and Eames could kiss him all day if he could.

 

But Arthur couldn’t really kiss for very long. He usually got too excited and turned all vampire on him and they usually had to stop after that, which was alright with Eames. He would prefer to not have to fight Arthur.

 

But no knew about his new relationship with Arthur. Eames decided it would be best if that was kept a secret. He knew no one would approve of it and he didn’t want to deal with fighting with his friends right now.

 

Also, Saito was a nightly thing as well. He was out every night, warning Eames and Arthur that Cobol was going to rise and there was nothing they could do about it. It was getting old very fast, which made Eames question how close they really were to getting Cobol to rise.

 

Did Nash’s death really have a bigger toll of their plans then they had hoped. Or was it all just an act, to catch them when they least expected it.

 

Eames shut his chemistry book.

 

“Everyone alright, mate?” Yusuf asked, looking over at him.

 

“Yeah, I’m just distracted.” He looked outside and saw that it was already dark.

 

“Why don’t you go patrol or something? Clear your head out.” Eames smiled.

 

“Thanks Yusuf. See you later.” Eames stood up, gathered his things, shouted goodbye to Miles and left. Arthur knew that Eames was studying but he was sure it wouldn’t take long for Arthur to find him, which he did.

 

Eames was sure that tonight would be just like all the other nights.

 

But tonight, things seemed to be a bit different. For starters, Saito didn’t show up. Eames didn’t know whether that was good or bad. But whatever. He didn’t care right now. He was too lost in his mind to even really care.

 

So, after patrolling, Eames snuck back into his house and got ready for bed. Arthur was just lounging on his bed, like he was already sleeping. Eames just laughed before jumping into the bed next to him. Arthur looked over at him, as if he was mad for disturbing his so called sleep.

 

“Can you tell me about Cobol?” Eames looked over at him when Arthur didn’t say anything. “I want to know what I am up against.”

 

“Cobol was one of the first evils to ever walk this Earth.”

 

“Is he like the devil or something?”

 

“No. He is something entirely different. He comes from Hell, yes, but he is not something you want back on Earth.”

 

“But what exactly is he? None of the books really say anything.”

 

“There isn’t a name for what he is. He can transform himself into anything he desires to. That is what makes him so powerful. He can be anyone he wants and no one would know the difference. Before, he was invisible to everyone except those whom he wanted them to see.”

 

“So it was like he was a ghost?” Arthur turned to his side so he could look at Eames fully.

 

“Something like that. He is very manipulative and always gets what he wants. He is invisible to some, but to others he is very real. He is like the bad side of your conscience. If he gets inside your mind, he can make you do anything.”

 

“So what happens when he kills me?”

 

“If he kills you, Eames, then he will become whole. His power will increase tenfold and the world will be doomed. But, like I said, that is only if he kills you.”

 

“Do you think he will get out no matter what?”

 

“Oh, I am positive he will escape.”

 

“But how will he kill me, if he is a ghost.”

 

“I honestly don’t know.” Arthur rolled over again. “Can we not discuss you dying? I would rather not think about that.” Eames let out a sigh.

 

“Have you ever seen him?”

 

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Arthur sat up, getting off the bed.

 

“Arthur, I’m sorry. Please stay.” Eames scooted to the end of the bed, grabbing Arthur’s hand.

 

“I would love to.” Arthur leaned forward, pressing a small kiss to Eames’ lips. “But I have other things to do tonight.”

 

“Alright.” Eames fell back on the bed. He wasn’t going to question what Arthur was going to be doing tonight. It was probably some weird vampire crap or something. “I will see you tomorrow.”  Arthur smiled before crawling on top of him.

 

“Look, I know you are upset that I am leaving much earlier than normal. I would stay if I could, you know that. But I have to get some things together. I have a surprise for you.”

 

“Oh really?” Arthur just laughed before giving him one last kiss.

 

“Yes.” Arthur hopped off him and went to the door. “Until tomorrow.” Eames just laughed as he rolled over and went to sleep.

 

He couldn’t wait until tomorrow.

* * *

 

Eames woke up the next morning to find a small note taped to his mirror.

 

_25 East Hill Street. After school. –Arthur_

Eames smiled as he stuffed the note in his pocket. He almost forgot about his so called surprise.

 

At least he had something to look forward to today.

 

School just wasn’t the same anymore. What was the point really? He was just going to die. It’s not like he will get to graduate. He was trying to focus on school work right now, just so he had something to do and keep his mind busy. He hadn’t trained in a long time. He just hadn’t felt like it. He still patrolled, he figured that was good enough.

 

Miles didn’t really seem to notice. He was too busy researching Cobol. Mal and Dom were too busy doing couple stuff. Ariadne was with Yusuf all the time. And Robert, well, Robert was around and Eames humored him, but Eames just didn’t feel like being all friendly anymore. He talked to them when they talked to him, but he never initiated conversation.

 

He was just going to die anyways. Why bother getting close to all these people? He knew he was distancing himself, but what was the problem really? Again, it didn’t really matter in the long run.

 

His mum started noticing a bit, but Eames assumed she would put it to him being grounded and lonely. She never brought it up, so she must not really care about it all that much.

 

School dragged on and Miles made him skip lunch to come see him.

 

“What’s up?” Eames tried to remain a bit positive as he walked into the library of despair, as he begun to mentally call it.

 

“How are things?” Miles asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against his desk.

 

“Good. School is hell is all that.”

 

“I meant with patrolling. Anything new?”

 

“No. Saito usually tells the same thing every time. But he wasn’t out last night.”

 

“He wasn’t.” Miles straightened up a bit.

 

“No, so, I guess that could be bad. I just, I don’t know what to do anymore. We know jack shit on Cobol and when he is coming back and it is just frustrating.”

 

“I know. Just, relax. We got this under control. Ariadne has been researching like crazy. We will find something. You will not die, Eames. I promise you.” That was an empty promise, but Eames didn’t say anything about that.

 

“Thanks for your efforts. I really do appreciate it.” Miles gave him a small smile and walked away. Eames knew they were trying. And he really did appreciate their efforts. But he couldn’t help but think that all their hard work would just be for nothing when he died.

* * *

 

After school was over, Eames walked out with Mal. Dom had left early for a doctor’s appointment or something. Eames didn’t really care too much about it but Mal had mentioned it as they walked.

 

“Eames, I feel like I barely see you anymore.” She gripped his arm and leaned against him.

 

“I know.”

 

“I know you are upset about the prophecy and all that. But don’t give up. By doing that, Cobol has already won.”

 

“I know. Sometimes I just really hate being the slayer. It’s like we are prophesized to die before we are even born.” Mal was silent for a bit, and Eames knew she was thinking of the right thing to say.

 

“I can’t possibly know how you feel, but you need to stay positive.” Eames nodded. He needed to get over to meet Arthur. But he didn’t want to just abandon Mal. He walked with her to her car, her chatting about unimportant high school things, trying to cheer him up. “We need to hang out. Get the whole gang together again.”

 

“That would be nice.”

 

“You know, Homecoming is coming up.” Eames had been hearing all about it from everyone in school. That was the only thing people had been talking about and he wanted nothing to do it.

 

“Yeah. Wasn’t really planning on going to that.”

 

“Why? I’m sure anyone would be honored to go with you.”

 

“A date isn’t the problem. I just don’t want to go. Homecoming seems rather pointless.” Mal just gave him look.

 

“I will convince you to go. That is going to be my new mission as of now.” He gave a small laugh at that.

 

“Good luck with that.” He leaned down and pressed a small kiss to her cheek. “I have to go. See you later.”

 

“Bye Eames.” He waved her off then made his way to the address that Arthur wrote down for him. He really didn’t know what to expect, so when he came up to a small house that was at the end of a dead end street, he was kind of nervous.

 

The house was small, and the windows were all boarded up. It almost looked like it was abandoned. But there was Arthur’s car in the driveway.

 

Was this his house?

 

Had Arthur just given him the address of his house? More importantly, Arthur invited Eames over to his house.

 

Eames looked down. Great, now he was nervous. Why would Arthur invite him to his house? What did he want? He took a deep breath and walked up to the door. He knocked lightly and took a step back, waiting for Arthur to answer. He needed to be calm and not make a complete ass of himself. He needed to be cool.

 

The door swung open and Eames about lost his ability to breathe. Arthur was standing in front of him in a white wife beater and sweatpants, and his hair was messed up. There was one little piece was that curling over his forehead.

 

“Um…” Eames gaped.

 

“Eames, come in. Not that you need a formal invitation, but please, come in.” Arthur moved away as Eames walked in.

 

Inside looked like any normal house. There was a couch and chair, a tv, there was a small hallway that most likely led to a bathroom and bedroom. Arthur even had a kitchen (which he thought was weird because Arthur didn’t really need to eat).

 

“Nice house.” Eames looked around, trying not to look at Arthur again. Eames had dreamed about Arthur not wearing a suit, and now that he got to see that, he kind of wanted the suit back. The suits were less distracting.

 

“Thank you. I have lived here for a while now.”

 

“It’s nice.”

 

“Well, here is not what I wanted to show you. Your surprise is in the basement.”

 

“The basement?” Arthur smiled and led him through the kitchen to a door that led to the basement. Eames had a million ideas as to what he thought he would find down there, but seeing a mini training station was not one of them. “A training station?”

 

“Yeah, you know, so, you can train here as well. What better way to learn how to kill vampires than learning from one, right?” Eames just looked around. Arthur had done this for him.

 

“How did you afford to get all this?”

 

“I have had a lot of money saved up over the years. And it wasn’t really that much.”

 

“No one has ever gotten me something like this before, well besides my mum.”

 

“So you like it?” Eames looked over at him and saw that Arthur actually looked kind of nervous. Did he really think he would hate this?

 

“Of course I do. But why did you get me this? Miles…”

 

“I’m not stupid Eames. I know you haven’t been training. I also know that you have been distancing yourself from your friends.” Arthur walked up to him. “That is bad. You can’t do that. You need them, regardless if you think you don’t.”

 

“Arthur…”

 

“I am telling the truth. I will help you train, but you need to be with your friends. Don’t just tosh them to the side, alright. Same with your mom. Maybe be a bit more honest with her about certain things.” Eames tried to not roll his eyes.

 

“Fine. I’ll try but…”

 

“Do we have a deal? If I find out that you are ignoring your friends the training will stop.”

 

“Okay. We have a deal.” Arthur smiled, pulling him close.

 

“Good.” He pressed a small kiss to his lips before walking towards the first piece of equipment. “You ready?” Eames just smirked and walked towards him.

* * *

 

Eames slowly made his way up the steps from the basement and walked into the kitchen. He didn’t make it far after that. He crashed down on Arthur’s couch.

 

Arthur had not taken it easy on him. He came with full force and Eames was not prepared for that. Of course, Eames had beaten Arthur each time, but it was not as easy as it could have been.

 

Which only proved that Eames had only fought younger vampires. If he were to go against Saito or something, he would definitely have his work cut out for him. And who knows what Cobol would be like.

 

He got lucky with Nash. He knew that now, especially if Nash was the one that trained Arthur all he knew.

 

“Are you alright?” Eames looked over and saw Arthur kneeling down beside him.

 

“Just tired. I never trained that hard with Miles.”

 

“That’s because Miles is an old man who knows jack shit about fighting vampires.” Eames laughed. Arthur just ran his fingers over his face and through his hair, as if he was trying to make the pain to go away. “So, Homecoming is coming up.”

 

“Not you too.”

 

“I think you should go. It would give you the opportunity to see your friends and be the teenager that you are.” Eames turned so that he could look at Arthur fully. He was probably going to hate himself for this later on, but he went for it.

 

“Speaking of being a teenager, how old are you exactly?”

 

“I’ve lost track of my age, Eames.” Arthur stood up and walked away.

 

“Yeah, but how old were you when you died? What age are you stuck at?”

 

“Eames…” Eames sat up. He shouldn’t push this, but he was a curious little shit and wanted to know.

 

“I am just curious as to how old my boyfriend is.”

 

“I was 28 when I died. Are you happy?” Eames was silent for a bit.

 

“Your age doesn’t bother me, Arthur.”

 

“Yeah, well it bothers me. You should be out there living your life. Not stuck here with me!” Eames stood up and slowly walked up to him.

 

“Hey.” He whispered, wrapping his arms around Arthur and resting his head on his back. “It is nothing to worry about.” Arthur shrugged him off.

 

“I need some time to myself. You should go.” Eames just watched as he walked down the hallway and slammed a door shut. Great. He had messed things up after all.

 

He picked up his things and left.

* * *

 

When Eames got home, he stopped when he saw his mum’s car in the driveway.

 

Shit.

 

He was still grounded. And he had not asked his mum for permission to go somewhere.

 

What was he going to say to her? It was almost dark now. Studying wouldn’t work. Maybe he could say he was with Mal…talking about, uh, homecoming? Yeah, that would work.

 

Although Arthur had made him promise to be more honest with his mum. But he wouldn’t do that today. Somehow, telling her that he was at some vampire’s home would not be a good thing.

 

He quickly sent a text to Mal to tell her to cover him if his mum asks. She said she would, if only she got the explanation. He really didn’t want to, but he really need her help on this.

 

He took a deep breath, sending Mal a text that he would and walked up to the house. He walked in and looked around.

 

“Mum?”

 

“William!” She shouted. He looked over and saw her coming from the kitchen. “Where have you been?”

 

“I’m sorry mum. After school I went out with Mal. It was habit. I’m sorry…”

 

“Why? What was so important that you decided to break your grounding rules? You have been doing so well and now you decide to throw it all the hell?”

 

“We were talking about going to Homecoming. But since I am grounded, I know I can’t go. But I was helping her out and all that. I’m sorry.”

 

“Alright. Add another week to your grounding. Just call me or tell me next time, okay. I was worried sick.”

 

“Alright mum.”  He slowly made his way upstairs. If he keeps this up, he will be grounded for the rest of his life, Or until he turns 18 and gets to move out, whatever happens first.

* * *

 

As Eames slept that night, he couldn’t help but think that his life was completely messed up right now. He was losing his friends, he made his mum worry way too much, and he causes Arthur to have meltdowns every other night.

 

And to top things off, the so called end of the world was coming.

 

Things would be so much easier if he wasn’t here. Another slayer could do so much better than he could.  

 

He needed to find Cobol. He needed to get all of this out of the way and done with.

 

He rolled over and looked out the window. He needed to find out where Cobol was at. He would have to follow Saito or something, and find out. He had a feeling Arthur knew where he was, but there was no way Arthur would tell him.

 

Homecoming would be the perfect opportunity to confront Cobol, so as long as he figured it out before then, he was set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was all over the place and I'm sorry, but bear with me, okay.
> 
> And thanks to everyone for reading! I appreciate it and it is what keeps me motivated enough that I will finish this story. :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Look, I know its been like two months but hey! Got another chapter for ya! And I have a little bit more of an understanding of where I want to take this story, so yay!
> 
> But I apologize for taking so long. My personal life has been horrible lately and I couldn't write when I wasn't feeling 100% myself, but I finally got some motivation so here ya go! :)

Eames gave Arthur a day to cool off. He figured that would be enough time, at least he hoped it would be enough time. He didn’t know what the whole waiting period was with vampires.

 

So after school he made his way over to Arthur’s house to see what was up. He really had no idea what he was planning on saying, but he hoped that Arthur would be willing to listen. He knew that they really needed to talk this out and decide what was best.

 

Age couldn’t really be the only thing that is bothering Arthur. Because really, in any relationship he was going to have, he was going to much older than who he was with.

 

He walked up to the door and knocked. He listened for footsteps but heard none. Maybe Arthur was in the basement. Eames knocked again, louder this time.

 

“Arthur?”  He walked over to the window and peaked through the small crack that could be seen through all the covering. It looked pretty vacant inside. None of the lights were on or anything. Arthur wasn’t home.

 

But where could he be during the middle of the day? It wasn’t like him. Eames walked over and sat down on the steps. He needed to go home. He shouldn’t act like a stalker. He had homework to do and his mum would be worried if he didn’t come home till late again.

 

He waited for fifteen minutes before giving up. He stood up and grabbed his book bag and started walking down the walkway when Arthur’s car pulled into the driveway. He stopped walking and watched as Arthur got out of the car, covered in a big trench coat with the hood up and gloves holding a big paper sack.

 

Arthur was silent as he walked by him, opening the door and walking in. Eames took the open door as an invitation to come in and walked inside.

 

The house looked the same as it did before. There were a few things out of place. It was as if Arthur had a little fit and destroyed some things. One of the things Eames saw scattered on the floor was a poker set. That seemed weird. He didn’t peg Arthur as the gambling type. He bent down and picked up a red poker chip. He ran his fingers over it, feeling the different textures.

 

“What are you doing here Eames?” Eames bolted up, hiding the poker chip in his pocket.

 

“I wanted to talk. I gave you some time and I figured it was time we talked a bit and discussed things.” He turned around and fully looked at Arthur.

 

And Arthur looked awful. He had dark rings under his eyes and his hair was all messed up. He was wearing black pants and a button up shirt but it was unbuttoned revealing his wife tank underneath. He looked good, except that he looked like he hadn’t slept for weeks. He was holding a small mug and it didn’t take much for Eames to know that it was blood in the mug.

 

“You look awful.” Arthur laughed before taking a small sip.

 

“I feel like shit.” Eames decided that he needed to be direct about this. There was no point of beating around the bush with it.

 

“Arthur, my age can’t be the main problem in this little fight. What is the real problem?”

 

“You really are naïve Eames. Age is a big deal in this. As are many other factors.”

 

“Those don’t matter. I mean, I don’t care about what you are. You don’t care what I am. We can make this work.”

 

“Can you stop being so selfish for one goddamn minute?” Eames took a step back.

 

“What? I’m not being selfish.”

 

“Yes you are. You are putting your feelings above mine and are ignoring how I feel. You assume we feel the same when we don’t.”

 

“Well how do you feel?” Eames was confused. Last he thought Arthur shared the same feelings for him. But when asked about his age he got all touchy and things went straight to hell. “I thought we both shared the same feelings for each other.”

 

“That’s the thing Eames. I won’t deny my feelings for you. You know they are there. I just, I don’t know what do.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Do you know what it’s like, for a vampire to have a soul?”

 

“You feel guilty about killing people, right?”

 

“Yes.” Arthur took a few steps forward. “But you are also haunted by memories of everyone you ever killed. They are all there, in my head, just taunting me. Every night, my family, my wife and kids all sit there and taunt me about you, about my decisions, every fucking thing I have ever done.” Eames didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say.

 

Arthur had been experiencing this all the time but he never showed it. He always seemed to be in tip top condition. Eames would have never thought that of him.

 

“Arthur….I didn’t know…”

 

“Of course you didn’t. That’s because you didn’t ask. You have no idea what I have to go through. Being with you is wonderful Eames. But I feel like I am betraying my family. I have never had feelings this strong about anyone, not even my own wife. I just…” Arthur ran his fingers through his hair before setting his mug down. “And we haven’t even discussed the biggest problem of them all; the small fact that you are human and I am a dead walking corpse.” They were both silent for a bit, letting it all sink in. Why hadn’t Arthur told him this before? Why would he even pursue a relationship with him if this is how he felt?

 

Then he remembered. Arthur had tried to stay away from him. But Eames was persistent. Great. Now Eames felt like shit.

 

“What do you want me to do? Arthur, I will do anything you want me to.” Arthur was silent for a bit.

 

“I want you to stay away from me. I am in a horrible place right now and need more time to myself to think things through.”

 

“Arthur, I don’t want to stay away from you. This whole thing with Cobol, I need someone…”

 

“You have friends Eames. I told you to not just abandon them. Miles is going to find a way. You can do it. You don’t need me. I’m not going to hold your hand through all this. You are the slayer. You alone can do this. Isn’t that what the legend says?”

 

“Arthur…”

 

“Just go. Why don’t you go and enjoy being a teenager. You shouldn’t be hanging out with someone like me anyways.”

 

“Arthur come on…I can help you…”

 

“Get the fuck out of my house!” Arthur’s face changed as he charged at him, throwing him against the door. “I don’t want you here.” Eames fought back tears as he saw total disgust in Arthur’s eyes. Eames kicked him off, sending Arthur flying back onto the coffee table. Eames pulled himself together and grabbed his bag before leaving Arthur’s house in a hurry.

 

Eames just walked. He didn’t pay attention to where he was or where he was going; he just went where his feet took him. When he looked up, he found that he had ended up in front of Mal’s house.

 

After seeing Eames’ face and rumpled clothing, Mal called up Ariadne and took him on an emergency evening out.

* * *

 

“So, are you going to tell us why you’re upset?” Eames just shrugged his shoulders. He was sitting in the front seat of Mal’s car resting his head against the window. Ariadne was in the back practicing some levitation spell or something.

 

Eames was too lost in his thoughts to really think about what they were doing, let alone care. He felt rejected and unwanted and most of all he felt hurt. He knew that Arthur hadn’t really rejected him, but it sure felt like he did.

 

Arthur liked him but he didn’t know if he should like him? Like how confusing is that? Eames hated it and didn’t know what to do. And he couldn’t tell Mal or Ariadne about it because well, they didn’t know he was even seeing Arthur.

 

Eames put his hand in his pocket, feeling the poker chip over and over again. He was so out of his mind that he didn’t even know they had stopped. He looked out the window and saw that they were outside a tuxedo store.

 

“What are we doing here?” He asked, turning to look back at Mal.

 

“We’re buying you a tux for Homecoming.”

 

“No.” Mal ignored him though, getting out of the car and walking into the store. Ariadne grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.

 

Eames spent the next hour looking over different type of tuxes, collars, ties, and other things he didn’t even really know existed until now. He thought a suit was just a suit.

 

Mal had picked out a rather simple one for him with a dark red tie. She thought the tie was just the right color for him. Eames didn’t really know what he thought about that, but he walked out of the dressing room and Mal and Ariadne just smiled.

 

“That one is perfect.” Mal turned to the owner and whispered something to him that made him leave.

 

“What did you say to him?”

 

“I told him to ring it up because you are so getting that suit.”

 

“No.” Eames stepped forward. “I humored you enough but I can’t afford this.”

 

“Relax. I will buy it for you.”

 

“Mal…” But she just ignored him. Ariadne just smiled at him before standing up.

 

“So, I have been doing some research in my spare time and I found something very interesting.”

 

“Really?” Eames didn’t really care right now but he knew she would just tell him anyways.

 

“Yeah. Apparently there is this potion called Somnacin or something like that and when taken, it can impact your dreams. Like, you can create your own dreams and all that.” Eames turned to look at her.

 

“How is that useful to me?”

 

“Well, I told you this was more fun research when I’m not researching things for you. Anyways, there is also a spell or something that you can say and it can connect people in dreams.”

 

“What?”

 

“Yeah. Like, You and Mal could drink the potion and after saying this spell, you two would be able to dream the same dream.”

 

“How is that anywhere near relevant to me?” Eames let out a small sigh and turned to look in the mirror. He saw that Ariadne looked hurt in the reflection but he just didn’t care.

 

He felt like shit and wanted everyone else to feel the same as he did.

 

“I thought you would find it interesting. Jesus, what crawled up your ass and died?” Eames banged his head against the mirror.

 

“Arthur and I had a fight.” He grunted out.

 

“Did you just say Arthur?” Mal butted in, turning him around. “You are supposed to be staying away from Arthur.”

 

“Well I haven’t been.”

 

“Eames. He could be working for Cobol.”

 

“He’s not.”

 

“Well, why did you two get into a fight?” Ariadne was trying to be supportive, Eames could tell. But Mal was having none of it.

 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Eames turned and walked back into the dressing room, changing back into his clothes. Mal and Ariadne didn’t say anything else about it. Mal still paid for the tux and dropped him off at home.

 

He saw his mum’s car in the driveway and knew he would probably get yelled at again for not telling her where he went. But at least he had a good excuse this time and he didn’t really have to lie.

 

He opened the door and immediately heard footsteps.

 

“William?”

 

“It’s me, mum.”

 

“Where were you?” Eames shrugged and held up the hanger with his suit.

 

“I got a suit for Homecoming. Mal and Ariadne took me shopping.” His mum was silent for a bit.

 

“I have decided to unground you.” Those were not the words he was expecting to come out of her mouth. In fact, he was expecting some shouting.

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Well, you have been good, minus tonight and last night, but still. I can see that you have learned your lesson but honey, is something wrong? You look upset.”

 

“’m just tired.”

 

“All right.” Eames walked passed her and started up the stairs before she stopped him again.

 

“So, who’s your date? Is it that Robert boy? He seems like such a nice boy.”

 

“No. I think I will just go alone.” His mum gave him a look that he knew meant that he was going to get a talking to later, probably about feelings or something like that.

 

“Alright honey.” His mum gave him a loving smile before heading back towards the living room. Eames just let out a small sigh before going up to his room and crashing down on the bed.

* * *

 

When Eames got to school the next day, he already knew what was waiting for him. And he was spot on about it as well. When he walked into the library like he did every morning, Miles stormed up to him.

 

“How could you continue to see Arthur behind my back?”

 

“Well, quite easily since you are only finding out about it now.” Miles huffed and turned around.

 

“Eames, I am your watcher, it is my job to watch and protect you. I told you to stay away from him for a reason, to protect you.”

 

“He hasn’t hurt me Miles.” Well, that was lie. He did slam up into the door yesterday. “And he hasn’t tried to kill me.”

 

“He could work for Cobol.”

 

“If he does, he hasn’t done anything to bring me harm by it. I don’t think you are right about him Miles. He is a tortured soul.” Miles laughed at that.

 

“A tortured soul? Eames, he is a vampire!”

 

“Why don’t you trust me on this? I can make my own decisions!”

 

“Your own decisions are why you are here in the first place Eames!” Eames didn’t know what to say that. He just looked down, remembering why exactly he was here. He had cost his old watcher his life. “I’m sorry Eames, but you need to stay away from him. It is for your own protection.” Eames just sat down in the chair as Miles walked back into his office.

 

No one seemed to trust him. His mum was the only one, and even that was pushing it. He trusted Arthur. And he knew that Arthur didn’t work for Cobol. There was no way that he could. Not with everything that had happened to him. And definitely not with him having a soul.

 

Eames needed to prove to them that he could do things on his own. He had to find out where they were communicating with Cobol. He needed to know where everything was going down. He had to be the one to defeat him.

 

Even if he died doing it, all the people he cared about would be safe.

 

He looked up and saw Mal and Dom looking at him. Dom looked like he felt for him and Mal just looked guilty. Of course she would be guilty, she was the one who most likely told Miles about him and Arthur. Eames just sighed and made his way to class. He didn’t have the patience for them right now.

* * *

 

The day dragged on very slowly, so when lunch came, Eames decided to go on his own and just enjoy being by himself. He needed some alone time to think about a few things.

 

But of course he couldn’t even have that. Ariadne found him after ten minutes.

 

“What are you doing all the way out here?”

 

“I wanted some time alone.”

 

“Oh.” She sat down next to him, picking little pieces of grass. They were silent for a few minutes before she said something again. “So, as you know, Homecoming is coming up.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“And, it seems, that I am without a date, so, I wanted to know if you would go with me.” He looked over at her and saw that she seemed a little bit upset.

 

“I thought you were going with Yusuf.” She took a deep breath before she answered.

 

“We were. But, it seems that the dance coincides with the full moon, so he can’t go. I’m going to leave early to go stay with him, but I still want to go.”

 

Eames really hadn’t planned on going. He was going to return the suit and just have the man put some credit or something on Mal’s account but he could see that Ariadne was actually very upset over this. And Ariadne hadn’t really done anything to him personally. He wasn’t mad at her.

 

“Sure Ariadne, I’ll go with you.”

 

“Thanks Eames.” She smiled at him before pulling him into a small hug. “I owe you one.” She pulled away and stood up. “I will leave you to your thoughts then. Bye Eames!”

 

“Bye Ariadne.” She gave him one last smile before walking away. Eames just smiled to himself. Looks like Eames was going to Homecoming after all.

* * *

 

That night, Eames went out on patrol. His mum had been thrilled when he told her he was going with Ariadne and didn’t question him about going out for a nightly stroll. It was different, but Eames didn’t question her behavior.

 

He walked around the cemetery, not really paying much attention to anything else. He was on a mission. He was going to find Saito and try and discover where Cobol was.

 

Eames stupidly expected Arthur to show up, but after an hour he gave up hope on that happening. Arthur was mad at him and he really had no idea when he would decide to show up around him again.

 

After two hours, Eames finally found Saito. He was in the park with a group of ten other vampires. Eames made sure to stay hidden and far enough back that he would be able to follow without being noticed.

 

He ended up following Saito into this tiny family cemetery that Eames had never been to before. There was never a reason for him to be here. No one was ever buried in this cemetery. The grass was all grown over and you couldn’t even read the inscriptions on the tombs. So of course Cobol would be here.

 

There was a large mausoleum in the back. He watched as Saito and the others walked in, one by one. There was no way that the mausoleum could hold all eleven of them and somehow be connected to Cobol in some way. And he knew that there were more than eleven followers of Cobol.

 

So there must be a door or something that goes underground.

 

Eames waited a few minutes before he went up to the mausoleum and snuck in. Luckily there was no one on guard. He looked around and saw nothing. It was just small and smelt bad. There wasn’t even a coffin or anything in here. It was just empty.

 

Where was the secret door? There had to be one somewhere. He looked around, feeling the walls until he found it. It was a piece of cardboard, but in the dark it looked like the rest of the wall. How convenient.

 

Eames pushed it aside and peaked in. There was a staircase that led down somewhere. The bottom was lit up and he could hear voices. He crept in and knelt down, peaking through to see what was going in.

 

He saw Saito talking with more people, but behind him was something. He could make out the signs of a barrier. It was clear, but there were small ripples in it every so often. Why would they need a barrier?

 

He then saw something move behind the barrier. It looked like a man. He was looking away from everyone. But Eames could tell that this man was very sophisticated. He was in a fancy black suit with his hair all gelled back. He reminded Eames of Arthur.

 

Eames scooted back when the man turned around. So that was Cobol. Well, it could be or it could be one of his disguises. Cobol was able to change his appearance from time to time.

 

But this man was gorgeous. His face was very boyish and Eames knew that this man could get away with anything. He had dark hair but bright blue eyes. It almost made Eames wish he knew him in real life. He wondered if this man was what Cobol really looked like or if it was just a disguise.

 

“Saito.” Eames was shocked by his voice. It was very deep and held a tone of authority in it.

 

“Yes, master.” Saito approached the barrier and knelt down before him.

 

“The time is almost here, in fact, it’s almost like I can smell the slayer right now.” The man looked up and Eames felt like Cobol had seen him. Eames bolted up and ran out as fast as he could. He didn’t need them catching him right now. He didn’t know if Cobol was being serious about actually smelling him or if he had actually seen him, but Eames didn’t want to take the chance to find out.

 

He hurried home before his mum got too worried about him staying out too late. He had a lot to talk to Miles with tomorrow. Maybe things could actually improve with this. He knew where they were. If they got rid of all his followers, they could prolong his coming just a little longer.

 

And just maybe Eames wouldn’t have to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say thank you all for sticking with this story and I hope you all enjoyed it.
> 
> I can't wait to write more!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off guys, I am so sorry for taking like I dunno, 3 months to update this. A lot of things have happened since then but everything is doing great now, so hopefully I can focus and determine where exactly this story is going because I really have no idea right now.
> 
> Anyways, I'm not too happy with this chapter, but maybe I can fix it at another time! :)

For once, Eames was actually very happy to go to school. He had a lot to tell Miles and hopefully they would be able to stop Cobol and maybe then, Eames wouldn’t have to die.

 

Eames went back and forth on the whole dying thing. Some of the time, he would be happy to die if it meant saving the world. He would get to be a hero and he knew it was all part of being the slayer. But then other days, he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to be the Slayer anymore and he just wanted to forget about all the horrible things that were happening in the world. He wanted to be like all the other normal people in the world who thought vampires were just something in the movies.

 

So that morning, Eames made his way to the library to talk to Miles. Once he got there, he saw Miles sitting at his desk, reading through a book, and looking very stressed out. That can’t be a good sign. Oh well, he won’t let that get him down.

 

“Miles! I have some news.” Eames hopped over the counter and walked up to Miles’ desk. Miles glanced up at him.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Look, last night when I was patrolling, I saw Saito so I decided to follow him and guess what? I found where they are keeping Cobol!” Miles’ face fell.

 

“What?”

 

“Yeah. I snuck in and saw him myself. He has this weird barrier thing around him or whatever but he is definitely there. All we need to do is come up with some sort of plan or something and then we can defeat him.”

 

“Eames…” Miles stood up, closing his book. “While this is good news, how could you have been so stupid?” Eames’ face fell.

 

“What?”

 

“You could have been killed. They could have found you and then completed the whole prophecy and then where would we be? We would be fighting the end of the world slyaerless.”

 

“I thought you would be happy.”

 

“I would be, if you hadn’t gone alone.” Eames let out a small sigh and looked down at his feet. Way to ruin his morning Miles. “Look, I know you were happy about this, and I’m sorry. But things are just really stressful right now. Ariadne can’t find a spell right now to help you and I just don’t know what to do. We have no idea when they’re going to try and complete the prophecy and I don’t want you to die.”

 

“I understand.” Eames gives him a reassuring smile before walking out. He would have thought that his news would make Miles happier, but instead it had just made things worse. Eames should have known.

 

The rest of the day went by rather slowly for Eames.

 

So, when it came time to patrol, Eames was about to explode.

 

Really, could things get any worse? It seemed that everything he did just kept on blowing back up in his face. Eames tried to calm himself down by going on patrol but things were rather slow in that department. Everything was just messed up and really, a sixteen year old should not be dealing with this sort of thing.

 

It seemed that Saito wasn’t willing to lose anymore vampires before Cobol’s big coming out day or whatever. Eames had a different name for it every day. He tried to add some humor to the prophecy of his demise.

 

By the time Eames got home he couldn’t help the breakdown that followed. He knew he shouldn’t have tried to go to sleep because he couldn’t sleep. And when he couldn’t sleep, he thought about things. He thought about his fight with Arthur (that he was still confused about it all to be honest), he thought about lying to his mother all the time, and the fact that he will probably die at the age of sixteen.

 

And when that thought came he thought about how depressed his mother would be and all his friends and that’s when the tears came. He quickly ran to the bathroom and closed the door so he wouldn’t be too loud and just sobbed.

 

He had been holding all these feelings in and now he couldn’t stop it even if he could. He had been strong for so long and now, now he needed to be weak. He needed to be human.

 

He didn’t want to die. Who wants to die at sixteen? But that was the life of the slayer, wasn’t it? To save the world even if it means dying for it. But Eames didn’t ask for this. He never wanted this. He wanted to go to high school, even go to college and have a life. He didn’t know if he would get married or have a family or whatever. But he knew he would deal with that when the time came. But he loved spending time with his friends and with his mom.

 

He loved being around Arthur and he hated every day that he didn’t get to see him. He knew they didn’t really have a future, like what kind of future could you have with a vampire? But Eames didn’t care about that. He didn’t look towards the future very much. He liked to live in the now.

 

Eames let out a small sigh as he calmed down his breathing. He wiped away the stray tears around his eyes and lay down on cold floor and passed out.

* * *

 

Eames woke up the next day feeling worse than he did the night before. He pulled himself off the floor and walked into his room, crashing on the bed.

 

He didn’t want to do anything anymore. He felt the will to do anything just leave his body completely. He knew he had to go to school but just couldn’t find it in himself to move.

 

Eames knew his friends were trying to find a way to save him, but when it came to prophecies, they were meant to happen. There was no way to stop them. Eames was going to die, not matter what.

 

He had the hope of stopping it but there was no way to. Arthur had abandoned him. Ariadne was still new to the whole witchcraft thing, that even if she did find a spell, there wasn’t a high chance of it actually working.

 

Mal and Dom were always there for him, but they had no idea what it was like to be him. They helped him patrol but that was it. They could continue on with their lives like nothing was wrong.

 

Not Eames.

 

Miles had tried to help him, but seeing him in the library yesterday, it was like Miles had known there was no other way.

 

There was no way to hurt Cobol while he was in his weakened form. He was just a spirit that can’t be killed. But once he became corporeal again, then you could find a way to kill him.

 

And in order for that to happen, Eames would have to die. Eames pulled himself up. He had to be brave in this. He couldn’t hide from it any longer.

 

He would go to Cobol and offer himself up as a sacrifice. He knew it would be cause more problems, but he had faith in his friends that they would find a way. They could do something.

 

But when? Eames looked over at his desk and saw his Homecoming ticket. That would be perfect. He would get to be with all his friends before it happened. To see them all together one last time.

 

It was the perfect time.

 

He fell back onto the bed, a small tear rolling down his cheek.

 

It would all be for the best. He just wished he didn’t have to.

* * *

 

The day of Homecoming finally came and Eames was in no way ready for it.

 

Tonight was night he was going to confront Cobol, which mostly meant that tonight was the night he was going to die. He took a deep breath and looked at himself in the mirror. He actually looked really nice. He had his hair all gelled back and everything, which was really saying something considering the fact that he usually just left it to do what it wanted.

 

“Oh honey.” Eames turned around and saw his mum standing in the doorway. “You look so handsome.” Eames just smiled as she walked over to him and pulled him into hug. “I love you darling.” Eames just fell back into her arms. It was nice having her there and with him. And it hit him that after tonight, he was never going to see her again.

 

“I love you too mum.”

 

“Now,” She pulled away and smiled, “Be careful tonight. I don’t want you staying out too late. Don’t drink and drive. Call me if you need to.” Eames just smiled as she messed with his suit, smoothing down all the wrinkles. “Are you picking up Ariadne or what is going on?”

 

“I am just meeting her at the school. But I’m walking there so I should be good.”

 

“Alright sweetie.” She pressed a small kiss to his forehead before walking out of his room. He took a deep breath before heading out after her.

 

After his mum took what felt like a hundred pictures of him, he made his way to the school. It was a beautiful day out. The sun was setting so the sky was full of color and Eames couldn’t help but get lost in it.

 

It was times like this that he wished he would have paid more attention to things like this. A simple sunset didn’t really seem very important, but on the last day of your life, it meant the world.

 

He suddenly got the feeling that someone was following him. And this someone happened to be a vampire. How he hadn’t noticed this sooner he wouldn’t know, but he guessed he could blame the sunset for that. He really didn’t need this right now. Ariadne would be pissed if he arrived to take her to Homecoming in a rumpled suit.

 

“Look, whoever it is, I’m neither in the mood nor the clothes to do this, so why don’t you do us both a favor and just go away.” It was silent for a while and Eames thought the vampire had taken the hint, that was, until he spoke up.

 

“I always knew you would look good in a suit.” Eames tensed. That was Arthur’s voice. Eames closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe he was just hallucinating. It wouldn’t have been the first time he had done that. He opened his eyes and turned around.

 

He was not hallucinating. There stood Arthur as clear as day. He was leaning against a tree in a pair of slacks and a blue button up shirt. His hair was messy and perhaps even curling a bit. Eames couldn’t help but smile. It was like everything that had happened between them was gone. That everything that had happened within the past few days hadn’t occurred.

 

“Arthur.” Arthur gave him a little smile.

 

“I can’t really talk long, I told myself that I shouldn’t see you, but I had to. It was too tempting to pass up a chance to see you in a suit.”

 

“I see.” Eames looked down and took a deep breath. So, everything between them was still bad. Eames didn’t want to die with them being on bad terms. “So, how’re you doing?”

 

“Good. How are you doing?”

 

“Could be a whole lot better, you know.” Eames added a little smile, to try and ease the tension. But it didn’t work. Arthur let out a small sigh.

 

“You guys will get through this whole Cobol thing. I have been trying to get information but they have been lying low lately.”

 

“Yeah, well, I sorta have a plan, so…” Arthur stepped forward, worry flooding over his face.

 

“And what is this plan of yours?” Eames just smiled. “Eames?”

 

“I have to go Arthur. I have to go meet Ariadne. It was really nice to see you again Arthur. You don’t know how much it means to me.” Eames wanted to go up to him, kiss him or something. At least touch him one last time. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t risk Arthur figuring out that something was wrong. He would mess everything up that way. So he just turned around and slowly made his way towards the school.

 

Arthur didn’t follow him nor did Eames expect him to.

* * *

 

He was supposed to meet Ariadne in the basement of the school. She was down there with Yusuf so he could see her dress and all that. It felt odd but Eames didn’t question Ariadne on anything.

 

As he walked into the little area where Yusuf was being held, he saw Ariadne sitting in the cage with him.

 

“Hey.” He walked up to the cage, a small smile spreading to his face.

 

“Hey!” Ariadne replied with a smile, standing up.

 

“Hey man.” Yusuf replied as he stood up next to Ariadne.

 

“Just seeing if you are ready to go.” Ariadne nodded and turned to Yusuf. Eames turned around to give them some privacy.

 

“Ready?” He looked over when he felt Ariadne grab his arm.

 

“Yeah.” Eames gave her a small smile before heading up to the gym. Ariadne was upset, Eames could clearly see that. She wanted to be with Yusuf. She was always there with him when he turned, just so he wasn’t alone. He was surprised that Homecoming had meant this much to her that she wouldn’t skip it. “Hey.” Eames stopped walking and turned to look at her. “Why don’t we go in there, say hi to everyone, maybe dance for a little bit and then you can go back to Yusuf. Sound like a plan?” Ariadne smiled up at him.

 

“Thank you Eames.” She leaned up and pressed a small kiss to his cheek. “You really are amazing.” Eames just smiled as he grabbed her hand and walked into the gym.

 

The gym was decorated to look like an under the sea theme and Eames was really impressed. It didn’t look like the gym anymore. In fact, the room looked double the size of the gym.

 

He walked with Ariadne towards a table and sat down. When she sat down next to him, he got to fully check out what she looked like. Her hair was down and in soft curls that curled around her face. She was in a knee length black dress. It was simple but then again, it was completely Ariadne, not that Ariadne was plain, but her beauty was in her face. If the dress was too decorative, then it would take away from her other amazing features.

 

“You look beautiful tonight.” Eames whispered. She looked over at him and smiled.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Did Yusuf like your look?”

 

“He did. He said I’m gonna have to dress like this again just for him.” Eames laughed.

 

“Well, that is something.”

 

“Eames! Ariadne!” Eames looked over and saw Mal and Dom walking towards them. And Mal, well, she looked amazing, like always. She was in a long red dress that hugged her curves in just the right way. Her hair was pulled off to the side. Dom looked very nice as well, but you couldn’t really notice him when Mal was next to him. Of course, Eames was sure that Dom was the envy of every man at Homecoming that evening.

 

“Hey guys.” Eames said, pulling some chairs out. Mal smiled and sat down next to him.

 

“You look very dapper Eames.” She pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek. “I’m so glad that you came tonight.” Eames just smiled.

 

“You look beautiful Mal, like always.”

 

“Thank you.” She smiled and leaned back as she rested against Dom.

 

“Hey guys.” Eames looked over at the new voice and saw Robert walking towards them. He actually looked really good. Eames forgot how handsome Robert was. He wasn’t the same type of handsome that Arthur was though. But Robert had these beautiful bright blue eyes that just caught your attention. And don’t even get Eames started on his jaw line. If Eames hadn’t been so in love with Arthur, Robert would have definitely been someone he would have gone for.

 

“Robert.” Eames replied with a smile as Robert sat down at the table with them.

 

“Don’t you look dapper.” Mal said with a smile.

 

“Why thank you. I did try my best.” Eames smiled at him one last time before looking out onto the dance floor. He still had the feeling that Robert liked him, and really, it would have been better if Eames would date him, but there was always Arthur.

 

Eames still wasn’t over Arthur and it seemed that Arthur was over him. He could tell that much since Arthur actually ventured out to see him.

 

But there was the small fact that Eames was going to die. That tended to cause a little bit of a problem with things.

 

The mood died down a bit as a slow romantic song came on. Mal smiled and pulled Dom to the dance floor. Eames looked over at Ariadne.

 

“Shall we dance?” Ariadne just smiled as she took his hand and walked towards the dance floor. Eames pulled her close as they moved to the music. “You look very beautiful, Ariadne. Yusuf is a very lucky man to have someone as amazing as you in his life.”

 

“If only he were here with me.”

 

“I know. I’m a sad substitute.” She looked up at him.

 

“I am glad that you came here with me although I am sorry that I am a bad date. I really don’t want to be here.”

 

“Me either.” Eames looked around at the other couples. “Say, why don’t we call it a night. I know we just got here but…”

 

“Eames, you don’t have too…”

 

“No, go be with Yusuf. Well, wolf Yusuf.” She smiled up at him before pulling him into a hug.

 

“I owe you one Eames.”

 

“You don’t owe me anything.” She gave him one last smile before making her way out of the gym. Eames just walked back to Robert and sat down next to him.

 

“Lose your date already?”

 

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Eames just leaned back in his chair, looking at everything, taking everything in. He needed to leave. He should just leave and get everything over with. He didn’t need to prolong the hurt any longer. “I will be right back.” Eames lied, standing up.

 

“Alright.” Robert didn’t even give him a second glance. He was too busy eyeing this guy from across the room. Hmm, maybe Robert was over him.

 

At least that would make his death not as hard for him.

* * *

 

Eames made his way to the cemetery, slowly. He felt the need to hurry but really just ignored it. No need to hurry to his death.

 

He came upon the crypt and just stopped. This was it. Everything he had lived for all came to an end here. He took a deep breath and walked in.

 

And there was no one there. Eames had expected there to be more on guard. Then again, he had snuck into here before quite easily. He pulled out his stake, just in case.

 

He didn’t want to get too ahead of himself. He crept through the door and down the stairs. He peaked around and saw that there wasn’t anyone down there. He walked down the stairs and looked around.

 

He saw the barrier and even Cobol wasn’t there. Where had he gone? He couldn’t have gone anywhere yet? There were certain things that needed to be done before he could be free, like Eames had to die.

 

And Eames was still alive.

 

Had he missed something?

 

Before he could think of anything else, he was pushed forward through the barrier. He tripped and fell down on the dirt floor, dropping his stake. What was that? He turned around and saw Saito smirking down at him.

 

How did Saito sneak up on him? He hadn’t even sensed him. Maybe there was something down here that interrupted his senses? Like the barrier perhaps.

 

But that meant that they were expecting him? That this was all just a trap.

 

Eames heard footsteps behind him but he was too scared to turn around and look at him. He wasn’t ready for this. He was nowhere near prepared to handle this. He didn’t want to die.

 

“Hello Eames.” Eames tensed up. He knew that voice. He pretty much lived for that voice. He pulled himself up and slowly turned around.

 

Behind him stood the figure he really didn’t want to see right now. This was not the form he wanted him to take.

 

For the man standing in front of him was none other than Arthur.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness! What is this? An update?
> 
> I am so SO sorry guys for taking so long. My motivation on writing this story has just been in the dumps lately, but, my internet at home is messed up which means I have more time to work on it so yeah, got another chapter out!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Eames gaped. Literally. His mouth was wide open, he was almost sure it was touching the ground.

“Arthur?” He whispered. Arthur couldn’t be here, could he? That wasn’t him. It couldn’t be. Eames knew that. That had to be Cobol trying to trick him. It had to be. He looked up and saw Arthur looking down at him with a confused look on his face.

“Eames? What are you doing here?” He walked over and bent down across from him. His hand reached out and touched his face.

“What are you doing here?” Eames asked. He had just seen Arthur not too long ago, before he went to get Ariadne. “How did you get here?” He asked. What if this was the real Arthur? But it couldn’t be? Eames’ mind was on overdrive right now.

He knew that this man in front of him couldn’t be Arthur. He just knew it. But seeing him right there in front of him was killing his mind.

“I was curious as to what this so called plan of yours entailed so I followed you, except I went the other way around.” Eames looked up at him and saw this weird glint in Arthur’s eye, something that was never there before. It was something evil.

Everything cleared up in his mind like magic.

Eames quickly pushed him away and stood up, glaring at the Arthur imposter.

“Took you long enough.” Cobol replied casually as he stood up and brushed off his sleeves. “I thought I would have to be that pathetic excuse of a vampire forever.”

“Don’t talk about Arthur like that!” Eames hissed out. Cobol just smirked at him. Eames hated that he still looked like Arthur. He felt like he was spoiling everything that was good about Arthur.

“And why not? I speak the truth. Arthur is a vampire, is he not? The job of a vampire is to hunt, to feed off of blood. To kill. Now tell me, is dear Arthur doing any of those things?”

“That’s because he has a soul!”

“Oh, right. I forgot.” Cobol gave a little laugh. “A soul.”

“Show me your true face!” Eames hissed out. He was tired of seeing Arthur this way.

“What? Does this face bother you too much?” Eames took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He needed to be brave here. He couldn’t let Cobol know he was scared. Even though his plan was like a suicide mission, he wasn’t going to let Cobol kill him that easily.

And he was no way ready to die. He may have thought he was but now, being here, Eames was nowhere near ready to give up his life yet.

“I just want to look in the face of the great Cobol. Is that too much to ask for?” Cobol just smiled.

“I would gladly show you my real face, Eames, yet, it seems that I don’t really have one.”

“You have to. You had to have been someone at one time.” Eames said, stepping away from him. He didn’t exactly remember much as to Cobol’s backstory except that he was supposed to be one of the first big evils to come from Hell.

“Even if I was to have a so called ‘real face’, Mr. Eames, what makes you think I would show it to you?” Cobol turned and smirked at him. “Besides, I like this face just fine.” Eames just glared at him. Of course he would be difficult. Eames moved on to the next part of being captured by the big bad guy: getting him to reveal everything.

“So,” Eames replied, again trying really hard to keep his voice even and to remain calm. “After you kill me, what is your big plan? Take over the world?” Cobol just let out a little laugh.

“Oh Eames, you and your so called friends think with such naivety. Taking over the world, such a ridiculous concept. My plans are much more complicated than that.” Cobol walked around him. “You guys kept making my ideas such small complications, but in reality, it is much bigger than that.”

“What do you mean?” Eames might as well get as much information out of him as possible. Right now, Cobol seemed to be very forthcoming, so he might as well milk him for all he’s got.

“You know, vampires and demons, hell you can even add witches and werewolves in there as well, they are always such an interesting concept. I always loved how humans describe them in stories and folklore. Of course they come with the night. You know, nighttime always has such dark connotations, don’t you think? Always gets associated with nightmares and fear. Ah, fear.” Eames just watched. He could feel the power that Cobol had. It was bouncing off him like crazy, attacking him. “Fear has always been an interesting concept. Being afraid, that was why vampires, werewolves and demons were invented. To cause fear.”

“It’s funny isn’t though, that most people don’t believe those things exist. It’s all just myths.” Eames replied, reminding himself of how he had reacted when he discovered he was the slayer. He thought it was just ridiculous. Vampires and werewolves and demons were things in movies. Not reality.

“Quite right. The name of vampires and demons are something that is laughed about. Humans attribute the word evil to people of their own kind, which I admit, some of them are just horrid people, but that’s all they are. Humans don’t know the true definition of what evil really is. ”

“And you do?”

“I am evil.” Cobol responded, turning to face Eames fully. “I am the definition of evil. Everything evil comes through me. I have been to Hell and back with the sole purpose of spreading that world onto this one. But I was betrayed by my own invention. Those damn witches. Giving them all that power was a mistake, because they went and created your kind and locked me away.” Cobol took a brief pause, looking up. Eames took a few steps back. “For a brief time people knew what evil was. But now, now you and your kind run around keeping the world ignorant of what lies out there.”

“It’s better that way.” It would be utter chaos if everyone knew exactly what was in the world. People are better left ignorant.

“No. It’s not. It makes humans too cocky. When I am free, I am going to show them what being evil really is. I will show them a world where they fear again.” Eames’ eyes widened. “So, I guess, you were a little bit right before because I will rule the world, but I will rule it with fear. Everyone will fear me once again.”

“That is insane.” Cobol just laughed.

“Well, rest assured, Mr. Eames, that this will take time. I have made somewhat of an army here, but I need more. Of course, I will have to get rid of the ones that rebel, like your dear Arthur. He and his kind are sure to cause some issues. But in time, we will be in control again. And slayers like you will cease to exist once more.”

“Why now? Why wait all this time?” “Believe me, the time is in no way significant. I would have preferred much sooner. This was just when Nash decided it was time to come and find me again. Such a shame that he is dead though. He was such a good follower.” Eames just shrugged. Cobol then got a small smile on his face. Eames wasn’t sure he liked that. “By the way, I was always wondering, how does it feel to be the first male slayer? Must be quite embarrassing, I mean, this whole slayer concept is supposed to be a real empowerment to women. And then you come along.”

“I didn’t ask for this life. I don’t want the responsibility. I don’t like living knowing that the end of the world rests on my shoulders. But I keep on doing it because of people like you, who want to destroy what we have here.”

“How noble. It is such a shame that you will have to die.” Eames didn’t see Cobol move, but he had and was now grabbing Eames by the neck and had him shoved against the wall. Cobol just smiled at him. “I bet you like this, having Arthur touch you again.” Cobol ran a finger down his face. Eames let out a little shiver. “I could always fulfill a last request, if you want? It would be just like he was here.” Eames felt sick. Did he really think Eames was like that?

“You are not Arthur.” Eames hissed out.

“No.” Cobol then ripped Eames’ shirt open as he leaned against him. “But don’t you wish I was?” Eames closed his eyes. He tried to imagine that it wasn’t Arthur’s face doing this to him. “It’s a shame he isn’t here to see you die. Back when he was a truly great vampire, he would have loved this. Torture was his specialty.” Eames opened his eyes when he felt that Cobol had let go of him. Cobol was now standing in front of him holding a rather large dagger. “I thank you Eames, for coming in here blindly with no reinforcements. It made things a lot easier for all of us. I will always remember you as helping me in reminding everyone just how evil the name Cobol can be.” Eames just looked up at him. He couldn’t hide the fear in his eyes anymore. Cobol then walked up to him, a smirk on his face. “You know, I don’t necessarily have to kill you Eames, but, killing is just so much fun.”

Before Eames could respond, he felt the dagger enter his gut. He let out a small gasp as he stared up at Cobol. It hurt him knowing that the last thing he would see was Arthur glaring down at him. He let out another gasp as Cobol dug the knife upwards, doing more internal damage, he was sure. Eames reached out and gripped Cobol’s shoulder, trying to keep some balance. He felt his head getting light and he knew that he was losing a lot of blood. He could feel it leaving his body.

Cobol then took a step back and Eames lost his balance and fell forward. He let out a small grunt as he hit the ground. He realized that the dagger was still in him and was now pressed further in.

He tried to pull himself up but he couldn’t find the strength to do so. He glanced over, to see what Cobol was doing. He saw that he was holding a small gold goblet. Eames could see some of his blood on the outside of it. He remembered now that Cobol needed the blood of a slayer to get out. He watched as Cobol lifted the goblet to his lips and drank.

It was all over now.

Cobol had won.

He would go out and gain his army and attack the world. The world was doomed and it was his fault. He closed his eyes and jumped when he felt hand on his chin, pushing his head up.

“Goodbye Eames. Thanks again for all your help. I really do appreciate it.” Cobol let go of him and stood up. Eames watched as Cobol walked through the barrier and up to Saito who was patiently waiting for him.

When Cobol turned back around to look at Eames, he was someone different. Someone Eames didn’t know. He was an older man who resembled Saito a bit.

But Eames couldn’t concentrate anymore. He felt too weak. His body hurt and he just couldn’t think about anything anymore. He couldn’t even breathe properly. He head fell back to the ground. He didn’t have the strength to keep it up anymore.

He didn’t even want to think about how long it would take for someone to find him down here. Would they know to look for him here?He didn’t remember telling Miles exactly where Cobol was. And what would his mum say? Would they tell her that he died trying to do what’s right? Or will his death become another lie to her.

Eames felt a tear roll down his cheek as his world went black.

* * *

 

Eames woke up to the sound of footsteps next to him. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was white. Everything around him was white.

Was he dead? Was this heaven?

As his eyes cleared up, he noticed that heaven looked a lot like a hospital room. He sat up and let out a little grunt. He looked down and saw the IV in his arm. Why would he need an IV in heaven?

“Eames?” That sounded a lot like Arthur. He looked over and saw Arthur right next to him. He looked upset. His hair was a mess and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Arthur?” Eames whispered. His voice came out hoarse and it made his throat hurt. “Am I dead?” Arthur laughed as he reached out and touched Eames’ hand.

“No. Not anymore.” Eames was confused at first. Arthur just smiled at him before he backed away. “I have to tell the others you are awake.”

“Wait!” Eames shouted, causing his throat to hurt more. “I need to know what happened.”

“All in good time, Mr. Eames.” Arthur walked back up to him. “But I think right now your mother deserves to see you.” Eames nodded. He remembered that his mum must be worried sick. Arthur gave him another smile and left the room.

A few minutes later the door burst open and his mum ran through and up to his bed. Eames could see the tears in her eyes and he knew that she had been miserable.

“My baby.” She walked over and pulled him into a hug. Eames hugged her back. He had never been so happy to see his mum ever. “Oh my goodness.” His mum pulled away from him and just smiled at him. “I thought I lost you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh honey. You were mugged on your way home from homecoming.” Eames’ eyes widened. He knew for a fact that that story was complete bullshit. “The mugger stabbed you and left you for dead. Luckily, that man, Arthur, found you and brought you to the hospital. Although, you were technically dead for a few minutes, but something happened and you came back.” Fresh tears poured from her eyes now. “You came back to me baby.” Eames smiled.

He needed Arthur to come back in here because he wanted to know what exactly happened. Obviously he had been the one to find him. He wanted to know what happened with Cobol. Is the world ending yet? He needed answers and he needed them now.

Well, it turned out that he wouldn’t be getting those answers anytime soon. He ended up staying in the hospital for a few more days. Mal, Dom, Ariadne, Yusuf and Robert came and visited him. They couldn’t really tell him anything because his mother was always there. Miles came in later. But Arthur seemed to have stayed away.

It wasn’t until Eames’ last night in the hospital did Arthur show up. Eames was about to go to sleep when his window opened. He looked over and saw Arthur climbing in.

“Arthur.” Eames sat up, a small smile coming to his face.

“Hello Eames. How are you feeling?” Arthur walked over, grabbed a chair and sat down next to him.

“Good. I have had so many blood transfusions this week it is insane. But, I get to go home tomorrow, so that’s good.”

“Good.”

“So, I need to know what happened. I know me being mugged is a load of bullshit. I remember me being stabbed, okay. I just need to know how I got here.” Arthur didn’t speak for a while.

“Eames…”

“Come on Arthur. I can handle it. I’m alive, that’s all that matters, right?”

“Yes.” Arthur was silent for a while before he finally spoke again. “Alright, well, after I saw you before homecoming, I went home, but what you told me, that you had this plan, it just ate away at me because I knew it had to be something stupid.” Eames just glared at him. “So, I went to the high school to see if you were there. When you weren’t, I panicked.”

“You actually panicked?”

“Yes. So, I ran to where Cobol was, knowing that was where you had to be. It all made sense. You would go when everyone else was having a good time so no one worried about you. Again, I was right because your plan was something stupid.”

“Well, you know, it sounded brilliant in my head.” Arthur gave him a little glare, but continued on with his story.

“So, I went there and saw Saito walking out with some strange man. I knew right then and there that he was Cobol, that he had gotten out, which meant that you were hurt. I waited for them to leave then went down there. And, I found you with this, in your gut,” He pulled out the dagger. Eames’ eyes widened. “Face down in the dirt, not moving and not breathing.”

“Right.” Eames must have passed out right before Arthur had gotten there. Of course.

“So, I brought you here. They said you were dead, and well, I helped them out a little bit.” Eames sat up a bit straighter.

“What do you mean by that?” His mom had mentioned that it had been a miracle that he had been brought back again. So Arthur was the reason behind that?

“I mean, I gave you some of my blood, to help your recovery a little bit.”

“Does that help?” Eames has heard bits and pieces about the effects of vampire blood. But it had healing powers?

“Yes. It has special properties that can help humans. Just, don’t die while it’s in your system otherwise you will change into a vampire.”

“Ah, right.” Eames looked over at him and just smiled before reaching out and grabbing his hand. “I missed you Arthur.”

“I missed you too.” Arthur took a deep breath before he spoke again. “What happened with Cobol Eames?”

“Does it matter?” Eames really didn’t want to tell him that he looked like Arthur when he had killed him. He didn’t exactly know how he would take that. Besides, Eames wanted to forget that night even happened.

“Eames, please.”

“Fine. I went down there, not really knowing what to expect. It was stupid, I know. So, I walk down there freely because there was no one around, which I thought was weird. I should have known. But then Saito pushed me from behind into the barrier. And when I saw him, he was, well, he looked like you.”

“Me?” Arthur’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, I told him to turn into someone else, but he remained looking like you. Tell you what Arthur, it sucked having your face be the one that killed me.” He looked up at Arthur and saw that he actually looked quite upset. “But I know it wasn’t you.” He quickly added.

“I know, but, that had to have some mental damage. I would never hurt you Eames, you know that, right?” Eames nodded.

“I know you wouldn’t physically hurt me, Arthur.” Eames couldn’t say he couldn’t hurt him in other ways because Arthur had already done that.

“Eames…” It seemed that Arthur caught what he said. He reached out and touched a hand to Eames’ face.

“I need to get some sleep, Arthur.” Eames interrupted, pulling himself away from Arthur. He didn’t know what Arthur was going to say but he knew right now he was nowhere near ready to hear what it was. Arthur nodded and stood up.

“Alright. Goodnight Eames.”

“Goodnight Arthur.” Eames replied, turning away from Arthur in the bed. Eames didn’t even hear the window close before he was asleep.

* * *

 

Eames’ mum took him home early the next morning. She was very protective of him the first night home, but after the second, Eames assured her that he was fine and that he was fully capable of going back to school. He had missed enough time as it is.

She reluctantly let him go.

So, on his first day back, he went straight to the library because he knew that was exactly where everyone was going to be.

“Hey everyone!” Eames said as he walked in. And like he predicted, everyone was there, sitting around the little table. Eames always wondered why there was no one else that ever entered this library. Then again, they could always be here when they weren’t. He shrugged that thought away and went and sat down in his usual spot. He looked around and saw that everyone was smiling at him.

“It’s good to have you back Eames.” Miles walked up to him with a little smile on his face.

“It is definitely good to be back.”

“So, Eames.” Mal said, straightening up. “I am going to ask the question everyone is dying to know. How on earth did you survive the attack?”

“I wouldn’t have, to be honest. But Arthur found me and he saved me.”

“Saved you?” Miles sat down and studied him for a bit. “With his blood, I am assuming?”

“Yes. He said he freaked out and did it. I’m not really complaining here, you know. I am glad I am alive. And this gives us more time to deal with the Cobol problem.”

“So, he is out in the world somewhere?” Dom asked, placing a hand on top of Mal’s.

“Yes. He is out gaining strength and an army. He didn’t tell me how long it would take him to do that, but I think we need to be ready, no matter what.” Ariadne nodded.

“I am getting close with the spells. It’s just going to take some time to practice and everything. But there has to be a way to stop him. It happened before and we can sure as hell do it again.” Everyone gave a little cheer and Eames just smiled.

This, this was everything that he had always wanted. He could save the world and have friends with him while doing it. He didn’t have to be a loner in all of this. Sure he hated that they risked their lives to help him, but it was nice knowing that he wasn’t alone in all of this.

* * *

 

Eames got home from school early and was actually happy to find that his mum was home. She decided that she wanted to spend the evening with him so they popped in a movie and just enjoyed each other’s company for the night.

Eames had never before considered telling his mom about his so called ‘calling’ in this world. He never wanted to have her go through all the stress of everything. He knew that one day she would find out, but he knew that would have been sometime in the distant future. But right now, sitting next to her, he couldn’t help but think that maybe that might be the best thing for her, to know the truth.

Right now, of course, wouldn’t be the most opportune moment. But soon. He would have to devise a plan on how to exactly tell her. And, of course, talk with Miles. Maybe he can even help out or something.

But she deserved to know. Especially since he had already died once.

When it was time for him to go to bed, he gave his mum a kiss goodnight and walked to his room. And he about had a heart attack because lounging in his bed was none other than Arthur.

“Arthur? What in the bloody hell are you doing in my room?”

“I came to visit you. I thought you would be up here a lot sooner than you were.” Eames looked around his room, making sure that nothing was out of place. “I didn’t look at anything, if that’s what you are wondering.”

“Like I could believe you…” Eames asked, going through his dresser. He stopped when he saw the poker chip laying out on his nightstand. He quickly grabbed it and put it in his pocket.

“When did you steal that from me?”

“Steal what?” Eames asked, crawling on the bed and lying next to Arthur. Arthur just smirked as he held up the poker chip in his hand. Eames hadn’t even felt him grab it from his pocket. The cheeky bugger.

“This.” Eames quickly snapped it back and put it in his pocket again.

“What makes you think it’s yours?” Arthur didn’t say anything, just gave Eames a look. “Fine, yes, I took it. It was right before you kicked me out of your house for good, remember?”

“Oh, yes. You know, it is quite the coincidence that I am actually here to talk about that particular day.”

“Are you?” Eames couldn’t stop the sick feeling that started to come over him. He wasn’t ready for this. He had no idea what Arthur was going to tell him now.

“I want you to know that I do stand by what I said that day. You are incredibly selfish with not looking into this from my point of view.”

“Well, I am only seventeen.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Does that still bother you?”

“Yes, but it also has to do with the fact that you are human and the slayer and seventeen years old.”

“Of course.”

“But after everything that has happened, I realized that I can’t stay away from you anymore. I almost lost you and well, I am willing to forget my so called morals to be with you, for however long you will have me.” Eames smiled at him.

“Really?” Arthur raised a hand and traced a finger down Eames’ face. He closed his eyes at the contact. It seemed like it had been forever since they had been this close. Since they had touched like this.

Eames knew that there was no happy ending for them. He wasn’t stupid. And he knew that Arthur was shielding him from all of that. But Eames wanted to experience all that. He wanted to experience love and he wanted to experience pain and being hurt. He knew those weren’t the most pleasant things to experience, but that’s what living was.

It was hard and painful.

Eames opened his eyes and looked over at Arthur for a few seconds before he leaned forward and pressed his lips to his in a gentle kiss before wrapping his arms around him.

“I’m not giving you up so easily. So, you have been warned.” Arthur just laughed as he ran his fingers through Eames’ hair.

“I look forward to the oh so many adventures of Eames the vampire slayer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is not the end of the story, even though I sort of made it seem that way. But this is like the ending to the first part. 
> 
> Also, I re-read what I had written for this story so far and wow, I found a lot of mistakes. So, I'm so guys. I swear they appear after I correct everything. ;)


End file.
